Sealed juvenile court records are in an unlocked room accessible to the public in the basement of the City and County Building, Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher warned Thursday.
In an audit alert, Gallagher said the court records and other public records, including original deed books of historical value and city personnel files, were found by auditors unprotected in the same area.
He said he learned of the situation during an audit of citywide records management. That audit began in February.
Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O’Malley, in a separate news release, said she also was concerned about the conditions of the storage room in the City and County Building but added that steps had been taken to rectify the situation.
She said the old city clerk personnel records identified as vulnerable had been removed and placed in a secured storage area that is not accessible to the public.
O’Malley said that in March, she asked the presiding judge for the district court and the court administrator for the county to place a lock on the vault where the juvenile records are kept.
She said she has been assured a lock will be installed by the middle of next week. She said that in the meantime, she has directed her staff to refrain from allowing unescorted access to the room in question.
The remaining records have been inventoried and efforts have been made to return them to the proper departments, O’Malley added.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
