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Colorado Court Upholds Record Reimbursement

DENVER (AP) - The Colorado Supreme Court has sided with open-government advocates in a case over records and court costs.

The court ruled 5-2 Monday that people who win open-records lawsuits can be reimbursed for legal fees - even if they win access to only some of the records.

The case stemmed from a 2006 open-records request from the Colorado Republican Party to some Democratic state lawmakers. The GOP wanted to see results from a public survey, and a court later ruled that some but not all of the surveys were subject to the Colorado Open Records Act.

A lower court ruled that because the GOP did not prevail getting all the records, it could not be reimbursed for legal fees. An appeals court reversed that decision, a reversal the Supreme Court upheld.

LINK: Benefield v Colorado Republican Party

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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