Court Rules Ritter Cell Phone Records Not Public

DENVER (AP) - The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled records of official cellphone calls made by former Gov. Bill Ritter made while in office are not public records.

The court ruled Monday the records are not open for mandatory public inspection because they list calls Ritter made on his private cellphone, which he paid for himself.

Justices in their 4-2 decision said because the cellphone company compiled the bills and because Ritter said he kept the bills only for payment purposes, the court ruled that the records fall outside of Colorado open-records law, according to the Denver Post.

The Denver Post sued Ritter in 2008 over the bills, arguing that records showing how public officials conduct state business should be open.

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