republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/hb-21-1025.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Nonsubstantive Emails And Open Meetings Law"
description: "Under current provisions of the Open Meetings Law (OML), if elected officials use electronic mail to discuss pending legislation or other public business among themselves, the electronic mail constitutes a meeting that is subject to the OML's requirements. The act substitutes the word \"exchange\" for the word \"use\" in describing the type of electronic mail communication that triggers the application of the OML.The act also clarifies existing statutory provisions to specify that electronic mail communication between elected officials that does not relate to the merits or substance of pending legislation or other public business is not a meeting for OML purposes. Under the act, the type of electronic communication that also does not constitute a meeting for OML purposes includes electronic communication regarding scheduling and availability as well as electronic communication that is sent by an elected official for the purpose of forwarding information, responding to an inquiry from an individual who is not a member of the state or local public body, or posing a question for later discussion by the public body. The act defines the term \"merits or substance\" to mean any discussion, debate, or exchange of ideas, either generally or specifically, related to the essence of any public policy proposition, specific proposal, or any other matter being considered by the governing entity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "HB 21-1025"
citation: "Colorado HB 21-1025 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeni James Arndt", "Joann Ginal"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-04-07T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b89928da-0b92-4552-8df3-066590b11515"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1025"
source_hash: "752d43bfaf4e5444dc3586e33d619cf0d6f4ee0a0e265d7c7975efaa2e4941ba"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado HB 21-1025 (2021A) — Nonsubstantive Emails And Open Meetings Law

Under current provisions of the Open Meetings Law (OML), if elected officials use electronic mail to discuss pending legislation or other public business among themselves, the electronic mail constitutes a meeting that is subject to the OML's requirements. The act substitutes the word "exchange" for the word "use" in describing the type of electronic mail communication that triggers the application of the OML.The act also clarifies existing statutory provisions to specify that electronic mail communication between elected officials that does not relate to the merits or substance of pending legislation or other public business is not a meeting for OML purposes. Under the act, the type of electronic communication that also does not constitute a meeting for OML purposes includes electronic communication regarding scheduling and availability as well as electronic communication that is sent by an elected official for the purpose of forwarding information, responding to an inquiry from an individual who is not a member of the state or local public body, or posing a question for later discussion by the public body. The act defines the term "merits or substance" to mean any discussion, debate, or exchange of ideas, either generally or specifically, related to the essence of any public policy proposition, specific proposal, or any other matter being considered by the governing entity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_hb1025_s_sa_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (03/01/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1025_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (03/29/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1025_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (02/16/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1025_01.pdf)
5. **Reengrossed (03/02/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1025_ren.pdf)
6. **Rerevised (03/23/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1025_rer.pdf)
7. **Revised (03/22/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1025_rev.pdf)
8. **Signed Act (04/07/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_1025_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **34–1** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **52–12** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jeni James Arndt — primary (person)
- Joann Ginal — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-04-07T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2021-03-29T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-03-29T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-03-29T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2021-03-23T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-22T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Passed - No Amendments `reading-2`
- **2021-03-18T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-04T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs `introduction`
- **2021-03-02T07:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-01T07:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor `reading-2`
- **2021-02-25T07:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Laid Over to 03/01/2021 - No Amendments
- **2021-02-22T07:00:00+00:00** House Committee on State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b89928da-0b92-4552-8df3-066590b11515`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).