Three months after a Denver District Court judge ordered Colorado Secretary of State Jena

SageRiver Consulting Demands Protections Amid Missing $25,000 Report Dispute

A set of conditions has been issued by the consultant three months after a Denver District Court judge instructed the office of Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to inquire with the consulting agency about an absent $25,000 report. Susan Heinzeroth with SageRiver Consulting wants, among other things, protection from "disparagement," CBS News Colorado reported.

CBS Colorado was informed by former employees of Griswold that the document strongly criticizes Griswold, and Heinzeroth appears concerned about potential backlash. Suzanne Taheri, speaking with CBS Colorado Political Reporter Shaun Boyd about her efforts to obtain the documents, captured the frustration of the ongoing battle. "I think they don’t want to produce it. Nobody wants to produce it. It’s just become this shell game of where is this report," Taheri said.

The Public Records Request and Initial Pushback

The dispute stems from an open records request filed eight months ago by Taheri on behalf of the Public Trust Institute, a conservative non-profit focused on government accountability. Taheri spotted a $25,000 invoice on the state’s transparency portal for "leadership development" at the Secretary of State’s office and wanted to evaluate what the public received for its money. State purchase records show the office hired Heinzeroth at SageRiver to conduct the training and deliver findings, conclusions, and recommendations, which former staffers note included an employee survey.

According to Taheri, Griswold’s office initially claimed no report existed. The office later acknowledged a report existed but stated they never received it and refused to ask Heinzeroth for it. That led to court intervention when a judge ordered the office to check with SageRiver, which had temporarily closed its operations.

An attorney for Heinzeroth subsequently stated that Heinzeroth had retired and "shredded all hard copy documents and attempted to delete and erase all electronic files." The attorney offered to search Heinzeroth’s electronic archive for two hours at a cost of $1,600, terms that Taheri initially agreed to before receiving the consultant’s latest conditions.

New Demands and Legal Stalemate

Last week brought a fresh set of hurdles. Heinzeroth’s attorney outlined a series of strict stipulations, demanding that the Secretary of State’s Office and the Public Trust Institute agree never to contact Heinzeroth again, issue subpoenas, hold her liable, or disparage her. Violating those terms would trigger a $25,000 penalty.

"We are doing you a favor. We are not legally required to do the search. SageRiver is not the official custodian of the report," Heinzeroth’s attorney said, according to CBS Colorado.

Taheri strongly pushed back against that assertion. "Of course they were the official custodian. They created it. As Taheri pointed out, any external entity receiving public funds must furnish public records, cautioning that permitting otherwise could enable government bodies to circumvent transparency laws simply by contracting out their work."

Taheri noted that this has been the most obstructionist open records request she has handled under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).

Taheri has filed another motion with the judge asking for an order compelling Griswold’s office or SageRiver to turn over the report and survey results. CBS Colorado reached out to Heinzeroth’s attorney for comment and has not yet received a response.