A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning protection of the personal information of
Page 1, Line 102persons impacted by wildlife damage.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov/.)
Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee. Under current law, a person may file a claim with the division of parks and wildlife (division) for compensation for damages to property caused by wildlife, and the division must review and investigate that claim (claim procedures). The bill changes current law by requiring that the personal information of a claimant received by the division through the claim procedures and proactive nonlethal measures is kept confidential and not disclosed pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act".
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds that:
Page 2, Line 3(a) Proposition 114, the ballot measure enacted in 2020 that
Page 2, Line 4authorized the process to introduce gray wolves in Colorado, explicitly
Page 2, Line 5required the state to fairly compensate owners for losses of livestock
Page 2, Line 6caused by gray wolves in addition to losses of livestock caused by other wildlife;
Page 2, Line 7(b) To fulfill this obligation, the general assembly passed and the
Page 2, Line 8governor signed into law Senate Bill 23-255, enacted in 2023, which,
Page 2, Line 9along with funding sources that exist for damages resulting from other
Page 2, Line 10types of wildlife, created a dedicated compensation fund to compensate owners for depredation of livestock and working animals by gray wolves;
Page 2, Line 11(c) Now that gray wolves have been released and are present in
Page 2, Line 12Colorado, along with depredation by other wildlife, livestock and
Page 2, Line 13working animals have been killed by wolves, entitling ranchers to compensation for the losses; and
Page 2, Line 14(d) However, ranchers in the state have been reluctant to
Page 2, Line 15participate in site assessments and file claims for compensation due to the
Page 2, Line 16fear of their personal information being made public through open
Page 2, Line 17records requests brought by individuals and organizations with the intent of:
Page 2, Line 18(I) Traveling to the rancher's home or business to view gray wolves and other wildlife;
Page 2, Line 19(II) Contacting the rancher directly; or
Page 3, Line 1(III) Using the rancher's personal information to conduct other invasions of the rancher's privacy.
Page 3, Line 2(2) The general assembly therefore declares that:
Page 3, Line 3(a) It is the intent of the state through the enactment of Proposition
Page 3, Line 4114 and Senate Bill 23-255 to prevent future depredations and fairly compensate ranchers for their losses; and
Page 3, Line 5(b) By protecting the personal information of people that make
Page 3, Line 6compensation claims, more ranchers will be comfortable submitting
Page 3, Line 7depredation claims to the division of parks and wildlife and participating
Page 3, Line 8in proactive nonlethal measures, and the intent of Proposition 114 and Senate Bill 23-255 will be better fulfilled.
Page 3, Line 9SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-72-204, add (3)(a)(XXIV) as follows:
Page 3, Line 1024-72-204. Allowance or denial of inspection - grounds -
Page 3, Line 11procedure - appeal - definitions - repeal. (3) (a) The custodian shall
Page 3, Line 12deny the right of inspection of the following records, unless otherwise
Page 3, Line 13provided by law; except that the custodian shall make any of the
Page 3, Line 14following records, other than letters of reference concerning employment,
Page 3, Line 15licensing, or issuance of permits, available to the person in interest in accordance with this subsection (3):
Page 3, Line 16(XXIV) Records that are not subject to disclosure pursuant to section 33-3-110.5.
Page 3, Line 17SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 33-3-110.5 as follows:
Page 3, Line 1833-3-110.5. Confidentiality of personal information -
Page 3, Line 19definition. (1) (a) As used in this section, "personal information"
Page 3, Line 20means:
(I) A person's:
Page 4, Line 1(A) Name;
(B) Phone number;
Page 4, Line 2(C) Home address;
(D) Business address;
Page 4, Line 3(E) Personal email address; or
(F) Business email address; or
Page 4, Line 4(II) Any other information that would reveal the identity of the person or the person's business.
Page 4, Line 5(b) "Personal information" does not include information
Page 4, Line 6about nonlethal predator-livestock conflict minimization
Page 4, Line 7measures used by or recommended to a person, or a summary or
Page 4, Line 8aggregated data related to such information, so long as the
Page 4, Line 9information or summary or aggregated data does not reveal the identity of the person or the person's business.
Page 4, Line 10(2) The personal information of a person that the division
Page 4, Line 11receives through the claim procedures described in sections
Page 4, Line 1233-3-107 to 33-3-110 and site assessments conducted by state
Page 4, Line 13officials and third parties to prevent future depredation and
Page 4, Line 14any personal or otherwise identifying information associated
Page 4, Line 15with the use of proactive nonlethal predator-livestock conflict
Page 4, Line 16minimization measures is confidential and is not subject to
Page 4, Line 17disclosure pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act", part 2 of article 72 of title 24.
Page 4, Line 18(3) Nothing in this section prohibits the disclosure of
Page 4, Line 19nonidentifying information regarding county-level data
Page 4, Line 20highlighting the number or dollar amount of claims made to the
Page 5, Line 1division, the number of claims made to the division that were
Page 5, Line 2settled and the monetary amounts of those settlements, the
Page 5, Line 3number of claims made to the division that are pending at the
Page 5, Line 4time of a request for disclosure, and the number of claims made to the division that were denied and the reasons for denial.
Page 5, Line 5(4) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
Page 5, Line 6contrary, if a person, or an authorized designee or
Page 5, Line 7representative of the person, takes actions or makes statements
Page 5, Line 8that lead to the person's personal information becoming
Page 5, Line 9publicly known, the personal information is not confidential
Page 5, Line 10and is subject to disclosure pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act", part 2 of article 72 of title 24.
Page 5, Line 11(5) A person shall not bring or maintain a private action,
Page 5, Line 12at law or in equity, challenging the division's determination
Page 5, Line 13that a person, or an authorized designee or representative of
Page 5, Line 14the person, has taken actions or made statements that led to the person's personal information becoming publicly known.
Page 5, Line 15(6) Anyperson, or authorized designee or representative
Page 5, Line 16of the person, that requests records pertaining to the person's
Page 5, Line 17own claim pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act", part
Page 5, Line 182 of article 72 of title 24, is entitled to receive the records without regard to subsection (2) of this section.
Page 5, Line 19SECTION 4. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 5, Line 20takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 5, Line 21ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 5, Line 22that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 5, Line 23of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 6, Line 1act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 6, Line 2effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 6, Line 3November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.