Accessing Weld County Public Records Now Requires Notary

The Colorado county’s sheriff’s office recently mandated that a notarized form is required to obtain public records. But critics worry the new rule is an unprecedented and unlawful burden.

by Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, Published in Governing, September 21, 2023

The Weld County, Colo., Sheriff’s Office recently mandated that anybody seeking public records from the agency must get a form notarized in order to obtain documents — a move a free speech expert called an unprecedented and unlawful burden.

The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act and Colorado Open Records Act allow public agencies to ask members of the public to sign a statement affirming that the records “shall not be used for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain.”

Nowhere in the statute does it say a public entity may require this form to be notarized.