Colorado Open Records Act

These procedures apply to all requests, submitted pursuant to C.R.S. 24-72-201 et seq., to inspect public records in the custody or control of Durango School District 9-R. Those requests must be submitted in accordance with the procedures of Durango School District 9-R.

All requests to inspect public records must be submitted in writing to the official records custodian who is the Executive Assistant to the Superintendent. Requests made to any person other than the proper custodian will not be accepted.

Requests may be emailed, mailed, or by completing the online submission form. If a request is sent via email to anyone other than the records custodian (as indicated in paragraph 2 and 11), it will not be considered as received by the district and the statutory time for response to the request will not begin until a confirmation has been sent by the records custodian.**Note: The reason for this rule is, due to spam filters and inactive or incorrect email accounts, the district cannot guarantee that the records custodian has received an electronic mail request.

All requests for records must be specific as to the records sought and the relevant dates. Requests for correspondence must identify the parties to the correspondence. For any request that is vague or broadly stated, the records custodian may require the requestor to provide a more specific request.

The records custodian is not required by the Open Records Act to construct or create a record that does not exist.

Time for response to records requests shall be as follows:

a. The normal time for production shall be three working days, beginning on the first business day after the request is received.

b. Such period may be extended upon determination by the records custodian that extenuating circumstances exist. This timeline may be extended another seven working days if extenuating circumstances exist. The requestor shall be notified of the extension within the three-day period.

c. Time periods for items received on a weekend, outside of regular business hours or holidays will be calculated without including the date on which the records custodian receives the request.

Requests to inspect records and/or documents will not take priority over the regular work activities of district employees.

Charge for copies of requested records shall be as follows: 

a. If more than one hour of staff time will be required to respond to the request for records, such staff time in excess of one hour shall be charged to the person seeking access at the rate of $41.37 per hour, to be paid prior to inspection of the records.

b. Copies may be furnished upon request and within a reasonable time at a cost not to exceed 10 cents per page. If an electronic file is requested, the requestor will be charged a fee for the cost of the thumb drive/flash drive. This fee must be paid in advance.

c. At the records custodian’s prerogative, in lieu of the fee set forth in paragraph 8a and 8b, the requestor may be charged a reasonable retrieval fee based on the actual cost of responding, including employee time, or gathering, preparing, and copying requested documents.

d. If records are readily available, the fee may be waived or the fee may be a lesser amount per page for copies.

e. In some cases it can be difficult to know beforehand an estimated amount of time that is required by 9-R's legal counsel to review and redact emails, therefore, the cost associated with fulfilling a CORA request is unknown until the email redaction process is complete and we have been notified by legal counsel the exact amount of time utilized.

The records custodian will provide the requestor with an estimate of the cost of responding and will require full payment prior to completing work associated with the request. If the requestor wishes to proceed upon receiving an estimate, he or she must respond in writing and submit payment by cash or check. By responding in writing, the requestor agrees to pay all fees associated with responding to the request. The time between the date of the records custodian’s estimate and the receipt by the records custodian of a written request to proceed will not be counted against the time period set forth above.

If the requestor wishes to inspect available records in advance of receiving copies, such inspection shall be by appointment only during ordinary working hours. Such inspection must be supervised by a district representative and the requestor may be charged for employee time associated with such inspection.

Open records requests can be sent via: 

a. Email to: [email protected]

b. Mail to:

Superintendent’s Office – Open Records Request
Durango School District 9-R
281 Sawyer Drive, Suite 100
Durango, CO 81301