Fees

A record custodian can, in his/her discretion, create a record where none exits, but he/she cannot charge the requester for the new document without prior notification. Nothing prevents and nothing requires one governmental entity to forward the records responsive to a requester's request to another governmental entity, however, the first entity cannot charge the requester for that action. A governmental entity may not charge a FOIA requester for the time it takes a clerk to calculate how much the requester will be charged. Whether a charge is reasonable is a question for the courts.

A public body cannot charge a request fee unless it has determined in advance that the fee accurately reflects the cost to search and provide a requested record.

Government entity may charge the actual cost, including an hourly rate for the time reasonably necessary, to fulfill an FOIA request.

Regarding duty to explain how the actual cost of searching for records was calculated; consecutive requests must be treated separately; public body may require a deposit if cost of providing records would exceed $200.

A public body may charge $.25 per page for copies as long as that charge does not exceed the actual cost of providing the record.

Inquiries as to the status of e-mail under the Freedom of Information Act, charges for electronic records, the working papers exemption, assessment of fees for producing a requested record, the meaning of 'reasonable specificity'

A city/county attorney's itemized billing statement is an official record and must be disclosed to the extend it does not reveal confidential communication, or ongoing criminal investigation matters, or some other information that may be exempt. Reasonable charge for deletions may be made

When determining the actual cost of providing copies, a public body may take into consideration (1) number of hours reasonably necessary to compile, copy and assemble documents, (2) cost of computer time used and (3) costs of reproducing the records. If a document is created at the request of a citizen, even though the public body may receive a benefit from having permanent use of the document, it would not be unreasonable to pass on the expense of its production to the requestor if the requestor were notified in advance of the estimated cost of preparing the document.

Public body may require advance payment, as long as access is not unlawfully limited.