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Colorado's open records laws are supposed to keep government officials accountable, but acquiring documents can require paying hefty fees or becoming tangled in expensive and lengthy legal battles. In some cases, the cost and complexity of obtaining records is enough to drive citizens away. In other cases, officials use vague legal standards like "contrary to the public interest" to deny citizens access to records that may be unflattering or contain information that agencies would prefer to hide from the public's eye. Or as 7News found out first hand, in some instances, a state agency will sue a requester to keep records under wrap.