Access to Administrative Records

The following policy governs all requests for access to administrative records of the Office of the Presiding Disciplinary Judge (“OPDJ”) under the Colorado Supreme Court Public Access to Information and Records Rule 2 (“P.A.I.R.R. 2”). This policy is intended to ensure that OPDJ responds to requests for administrative records in a prompt and consistent manner. This policy applies only to OPDJ.

Request to the Custodian. Under P.A.I.R.R. 2, a request to inspect or obtain copies of administrative records must be directed to OPDJ’s administrative records custodian at pdj@pdj.state.co.us. Requests that cite the federal Freedom of Information Act or the Colorado Open Records Act, C.R.S. section 24-72-200.1, et seq., will be treated as though they were made under P.A.I.R.R. 2. A request for administrative records should be titled as such and should include the date the request was delivered to OPDJ’s custodian; the requested records; and the requestor’s name, address, telephone number, and email address.

Format of Records Produced. OPDJ can only produce those records already in existence and maintained by OPDJ. P.A.I.R.R. 2 § 4(b)(1)(B) provides that OPDJ’s custodian may determine the format in which records are inspected or produced. If the documents are made available for inspection, OPDJ’s custodian will provide written notice of the date, time, and location for the inspection of the available records.

Fees for Copies and Data Storage Device. A fee of $0.25 per page ($0.50 if double-sided) will be charged for any record produced in hard-copy format. If the record is provided on a data storage device, the actual cost of the data storage device will also be charged.

Fees for Research, Retrieval, or Redaction. If review, retrieval, or research, including redaction of documents, is required to provide the information requested, OPDJ’s custodian will assess the requestor a fee of $41.37 per hour to recoup the costs of OPDJ’s employee time and resources. OPDJ’s custodian will not charge, however, for the first hour spent in researching, retrieving, and redacting records.

Deposit Required. Before fulfilling a request for administrative records that will involve the assessment of fees, OPDJ’s custodian will provide the requestor with an estimate of the cost of complying with the request. The estimate will be based on the custodian’s preliminary search for records. The estimate may also include any past-due charges the requestor owes from previous OPDJ records productions. While OPDJ and the requestor communicate about the required deposit and the scope of the request, OPDJ’s timeframe to provide access to responsive documents under P.A.I.R.R. 2 is tolled. The requestor must deposit with OPDJ the full amount of the estimate before any records are retrieved, redacted, scanned, or otherwise produced. Once OPDJ’s custodian has completed the request, OPDJ either will await receipt of any remaining fees before producing records or, if applicable, will provide access to the available records and refund the unused portion of the requestor’s deposit.

Effective May 29, 2026.