SMB Advertising, Inc. v. City of Boulder

── SMB Advertising, Inc. v. City of Boulder ── Court: Colorado Court of Appeals Date: April 09, 2026 Category: General The summaries of the Colorado Court of Appeals published opinions constitute no part of the opinion of the division but have been prepared by the division for the convenience of the reader. The summaries may not be cited or relied upon as they are not the official language of the division. Any discrepancy between the language in the summary and in the opinion should be resolved in favor of the language in the opinion. SUMMARY April 9, 2026 2026COA25 No. 25CA0026, SMB Advertising, Inc. v. City of Boulder — Government — Law Enforcement Integrity — Incident Recordings — Complaint of Police Officer Misconduct — Criminal Justice Records Act A division of the court of appeals addresses the interplay between the Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act (Integrity Act), which requires law enforcement agencies to “release, upon request, all unedited video and audio recordings . . . within twenty-one days” for “all incidents in which there is a complaint of peace officer misconduct,” § 24-31-902(2)(a), C.R.S. 2025, and the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act, which allows a criminal justice agency discretion to “assess reasonable fees . . . for the search, retrieval, and redaction of criminal justice records.” § 24-72-306(1), C.R.S. 2025.  The division holds that the Integrity Act does not allow a law enforcement agency to condition its mandatory obligation to produce requested recordings on the payment of fees. And it further holds that the Integrity Act’s mandates are not rendered optional by the unfunded mandate statute, section 29-1-304.5, C.R.S. 2025. COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2026COA25 Court of Appeals No. 25CA0026 Boulder County District Court No. 24CV30320 Honorable Michael Kotlarczyk, Judge Honorable Robern R. Gunning, Judge SMB Advertising, Inc. d/b/a Yellow Scene Magazine, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. City of Boulder, Colorado, Defendant-Appellant. JUDGMENT AFFIRMED Division A Opinion by JUDGE DUNN Román, C.J., and Welling, J., concur Announced April 9, 2026 Grata Law and Policy LLC, Daniel D. Williams, Matthew A. Simonson, Boulder, Colorado; Hutchinson Black and Cook LLC, Ashlyn L. Hare, Boulder, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney, Luis A. Toro, Senior Counsel, Veronique Van Gheem, Assistant City Attorney, Boulder, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant Killmer Lane, LLP, Madison S. Lips, Denver, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition Azizpour Donnelly LLC, Katayoun Donnelly, Denver, Colorado; Timothy R. Macdonald, Sara R. Neel, Denver, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado Rachel Bender, Robert D. Sheesley, Denver, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Colorado Municipal League Hall & Evans, L.L.C., Andrew D. Ringel, Denver, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Colorado Counties, Inc. Erin Powers, Littleton, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae County Sheriffs of Colorado Colorado Legal Defense Group, Justin Carpenter, Denver, Colorado, for Amicus Curiae Jonathon Booth ¶1 In 2020, the Colorado General Assembly enacted the Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act (Integrity Act), which, among other reforms, requires law enforcement agencies to “release, upon request, all unedited video and audio recordings . . . within twenty- one days” for “all incidents in which there is a complaint of peace officer misconduct.” § 24-31-902(2)(a), C.R.S. 2025. ¶2 Decades earlier, the General Assembly enacted the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA), which authorizes public access to certain criminal justice records, including tapes and rec