What is CORA?

The Colorado Open Records Act "CORA" requires that most public records be available to the public. A "public record" includes most writings made, maintained, or kept by our office. However, there are some exceptions concerning records made available under CORA.

Anyone can request public records in the possession of a government office, including the Secretary of State's office. See the Department of State CORA Policy (PDF) here.

How do I submit a CORA request to the Colorado Secretary of State's office?

To request records in possession of the Secretary of State's office, send a detailed, written request by mail or email to:

CORA Custodian
1700 Broadway, Suite 550
Denver, CO 80290
CORA@coloradoSOS.gov

In making your request, it is helpful to include the following:

• Your name and mailing address.
• Your phone number or email address so that we can contact you if we need to clarify your request.
• A detailed list or description of the specific records that you are seeking, including search terms and a date range.

Mailed communications will be answered when received by staff available to process them in the office. The more specific your request is, the faster we can complete it. Being specific also helps us to avoid giving you too much or too little information.

Do all open records requests go through the Secretary of State's office?

No. The Secretary of State's office does not process all open records requests for the state. A person must request records directly from the appropriate government office or the custodian of the records. Other agencies may have different processes for open records requests, so contact the appropriate office ahead of time to review its process. Our office does not have authority to determine if another agency or office has improperly denied a CORA request, or to require another agency to turn over records.

Do I have to submit a CORA request with the Secretary of State's office to get information?

Before making a CORA request, you may contact our office to request information from our staff. Our office is a filing office for business entity records, UCC and EFS filings, charitable solicitations, bingo-raffle, notary, lobbyist, campaign finance, and candidate filings. Many of these documents are already readily available to the public online. We may be able to help you access these filings without asking you to make a CORA request.

How do you deliver the records to me?

Information that is available in an electronic format can generally be emailed to you.

If the information is not available electronically, we will send paper copies to you by mail. You will be charged in advance for all electronic or paper documents sent to you. See the fee schedule for current fees.

For all information about timeframe for response and associated fees, please refer to the Department of State CORA Policy (PDF).

You can also read the rules concerning public records requests.

In addition, you can read the Colorado Open Records Act or view the Attorney General Opinion concerning CORA requests (PDF).

Record retention policy

The Colorado State Archives prepares some general retention schedules, including the State Agency Records Management Index, that mostly cover permanently valuable records. For records that are not in the Archivist’s schedule, each state agency develops its own retention schedule. See our record retention policy and schedule.