Loading chat...
ID H0281
Bill
AI Summary
House Bill No. 281 Summary
-
Public agencies may require written requests for public records that include the requester's name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number, with requests and delivery permitted via electronic mail.
-
No fees shall be charged for the first two hours of labor or the first 100 pages of paper records requested; fees for additional labor and copying may be charged only when requests exceed 100 pages, require redactions, or involve more than two person-hours of work.
-
Fee statements must be itemized showing per-page costs, hourly rates, employees involved, and actual time spent; lump sum costs are prohibited.
-
Public agencies may aggregate multiple related requests from the same requester made to avoid fees, but cannot aggregate unrelated requests; advance payment of fees is limited to $250 with excess amounts refunded to the requester.
-
Custodians may waive fees when the requester demonstrates inability to pay or that the request will significantly contribute to public understanding of government operations and is not primarily in the requester's individual interest.
Legislative Description
Amends existing law relating to public records to provide that public agencies and independent public bodies corporate and politic may impose certain requirements relating to requests for public records; to provide that requests for public records and delivery of public records may be made by electronic mail; to revise provisions relating to inquiries by custodians in connection with requests for public records; to revise fee provisions; to provide that under certain circumstances there shall be no cost or fee charged for examination or copying of public records; to provide that statements of fees shall be itemized; to provide for the aggregation of related requests under certain circumstances; to provide for advance payment of fees; to provide for the crediting of moneys received to certain accounts and to provide for the expenditure of such funds by an agency.
PUBLIC RECORDS
Last Action
to St Aff
3/17/2011