03/11/07

Sunshine Week 2007

Wide-ranging open-records copy costs prompt cost-cap legislation



By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer

DENVER (AP) -- They are free for the asking in many Colorado cities and counties, but copies of minutes from planning and zoning board meetings can cost anywhere from a dime a page in Logan County to $1.25 per page in Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

Reducing that variability -- and capping the cost for copies of public records at 25 cents rather than the $1.25-per-page maximum set in 1968 -- would make it easier for people to obtain documents detailing how their governments work, supporters of a legislative proposal say.

Sen. Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said the maximum copy cost in the state's public-records law is the highest in the country and has been and obstacle for some people who have sought records.

"Kinko's can make a ton of money at 10 cents," said McElhany, the bill's sponsor.

The Senate this week gave final approval to the bill (Senate Bill 45), which would set a 25-cent-per-page cap on the cost of obtaining copies of most public records. The bill now heads to the House for debate.

McElhany said the proposal grew from a project last year by The Associated Press and Colorado Press Association that examined how public-records laws were working across the state. A survey conducted in 21 counties by 23 newspaper members of the organizations found wide variations in the charges for copies of similar records.

"The high cost of copies has served as a deterrent that prevents citizens from learning about how the government's conducting its business," said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Silverstein, who often requests public records for his work, said he would like to see the proposal expanded to specifically include records kept by law enforcement agencies.

"Just as the AP has documented the wide variance in charges for public records, we have seen precisely the same thing with regards to the prices that law enforcement agencies charge for what they call criminal justice records," he said.

Silverstein said the ACLU has been charged copy costs ranging from 10 cents per page to $2 per page by law enforcement agencies.

Under existing law, law enforcement agencies can charge "reasonable fees" up to the actual costs of copying for records they hold. Those fees can include personnel costs for research and retrieval of records. McElhany said he may consider future legislation to address costs for copies of criminal justice records.

A 2003 ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals allows agencies to charge up to $15 an hour for research and retrieval in public-records requests, and up to $20 an hour if the request turns up "voluminous" records. The bill approved in the Senate this week would not change that.

Still, Colorado's county clerks and recorders are opposing the measure because it would reduce a reliable stream of revenue, said Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Scott Doyle. He estimated dropping the maximum cost from $1.25 per page to 25 cents per page would cost his office $100,000 a year.

"I have to worry about a level of service to the community here and that's where my concerns are," Doyle said. "We will operate anyway, but what do we have to do to make that happen? If I was running a business I'd be scared to death with this going on."