Court Business, 0221 COBJ, Vol. 50, No. 2 Pg. 74

• Position: Vol. 50, 2 [Page 74]

50 Colo.Law. 74

COURT BUSINESS

Vol. 50, No. 2 [Page 74]

Colorado Lawyer

February, 2021

Colorado Supreme Court Rules Committees

Rule Change 2020(34) Colorado Rules of Criminal Procedure

Rule 55.1. Public Access to Court Records in Criminal Cases

(a) Court records in criminal cases are presumed to be accessible to the public. Unless a court record or any part of a court record is inaccessible to the public pursuant to statute, rule, regulation, or Chief Justice Directive, the court may deny the public access to a court record or to any part of a court record only in compliance with this rule.

(1) Motion Requesting to Limit Public Access to Court Record Not Previously Filed. A party may file a motion requesting that the court limit public access to a court record not previously filed or to any part of such a court record by making it inaccessible to the public or by allowing only a redacted copy of it to be accessible to the public. The motion must be accompanied by the court record the moving party seeks to make inaccessible or partially inaccessible to the public, must be served on any opposing party, and must be identified on the publicly available Register of Actions as a motion to limit public access. An opposing party wishing to object to the motion must file a response within 14 days after service of the motion unless otherwise directed by the court. Upon receiving the motion, the clerk shall make the subject court record in accessible to the public pending the court's resolution of the motion, except that if a party seeks to make inaccessible to the public only parts of the subject court record, then the party must also submit a redacted version of the court record with the motion and the clerk shall make the redacted version of the court record accessible to the public without undue delay. The clerk shall also make the motion and the response inaccessible to the public pending the court's resolution of the motion, except that, in its discretion, the court may order that the motion and the response, or redacted versions of the motion and the response, be accessible to the public during that time frame.

(2) Motion Requesting to Limit Public Access to Court Record Previously Filed. A party may file a motion requesting that the court limit public access to a court record previously filed (including one not yet made accessible to the public) or to any part of such a court record by making it inaccessible to the public or by allowing only a redacted copy of it to be accessible to the public. The motion must identify by title and date of filing the court record the moving party seeks to make inaccessible or partially inaccessible to the public, must be served on any opposing party, and must be identified on the publicly available Register of Actions as a motion to limit public access. An opposing party wishing to object to the motion must file a response within 14 days after service of the motion unless otherwise directed by the court. Upon receiving the motion, the clerk shall make the subject court record in accessible to the public pending the court's resolution of the motion, except that if a party seeks to make inaccessible to the public only parts of the subject court record, then the party must submit a redacted version of the court record with the motion and the clerk shall make the redacted version of the court record accessible to the public without undue delay. The clerk shall also make the motion and the response inaccessible to the public pending the court's resolution of the motion...