Consultant Demands $25,000 If Court Forces Release of Missing Report

SageRiver Consulting has submitted a new list of demands to a Denver District Court judge regarding a missing $25,000 report for the Secretary of State’s office.

The dispute began eight months ago when Suzanne Taheri filed an open records request on behalf of the Public Trust Institute. She had noticed a state invoice for “leadership development” and wanted to see the resulting findings, conclusions, and recommendations. A purchase order confirmed the state hired Susan Heinzeroth of SageRiver Consulting to perform the work. Former staffers for Secretary of State Jena Griswold say the missing document includes a critical employee survey.

Griswold’s office initially claimed no report existed, then stated it had not received the document from the consultant. A judge ordered the office to contact SageRiver, which had temporarily closed its doors. Heinzeroth’s attorney later stated that Heinzeroth had retired and shredded all hard copy documents. She also attempted to delete and erase all electronic files. The attorney offered to search the remaining electronic archive for two hours at a cost of $1,600. Taheri agreed to pay that amount.

Last week, Heinzeroth’s attorney sent a set of new conditions. The consultant wants the Secretary of State’s office and the Public Trust Institute to agree not to contact her, subpoena her, hold her liable, or disparage her. If any of those actions occur, they must pay her $25,000. The attorney argued that Heinzeroth is doing the public a favor and is not legally required to perform the search because SageRiver is not the official custodian of the report.

Taheri disputes that claim, noting that the consultant created the document with public money. “Of course they were the official custodian. They created it,” Taheri said. She argues that if a third party can avoid producing documents, any government entity could outsource its work to escape open records requests. Taheri described the situation as the most obstructionist case she has handled under the Colorado Open Records Act. “You got paid $25,000 to write a report. That just comes with the territory when you work for the government; you have some accountability to the people,” she said.

Heinzeroth’s attorney maintains that she gave the report and survey results to the Secretary of State’s office. Taheri points out that the state’s retention policy requires the office to keep those documents for ten years. She says Griswold, who is currently running for Attorney General, should explain why she did not retain the materials. Taheri notes that the role of Attorney General carries serious consequences for failing to maintain documents, even those that are damaging to a case.

Taheri has filed a new motion with the judge. She is asking the court to order either Griswold’s office or SageRiver to turn over the report and survey results. CBS Colorado reached out to Heinzeroth’s attorney but has not heard back yet.