OAR 414-002-0001: Fees for Inspection or Copies of Public Records and Department Publications; Other Services

(1) The Department may charge a fee reasonably calculated to reimburse the Department for the cost of making public records available: (a) Costs include but are not limited to: (A) The services and supplies used in making the records available; (B) The time spent locating the requested records, reviewing the records, and redacting, or separating material exempt from disclosure; (C) Supervising a person's inspection of original documents; (D) Copying records; (E) Certifying copies of records; (F) Summarizing, compiling, or organizing the public records to meet the person’s request; (G) Searching for and reviewing records even if the records subsequently are determined to be exempt from disclosure; (H) Postal and freight charges for shipping the copies of the public records, sent first class or bulk rate based on weight, or other reasonable rates charged by the selected freight carrier; (I) Indirect costs or third-party charges associated with copying and preparing the public records; and (J) Costs associated with electronic retrieval of records. (b) A fee will not be charged for the cost of time spent by an attorney in determining the application of the provisions of ORS 192.410 to 192.505; (c) Staff time will be calculated based on the level of skill or expertise required to complete the work performed in accordance with the Department of Administrative Services Statewide Policy regarding Public Records Requests Fees and Charges; (d) The cost for publications will be based on the actual costs of development, printing and distribution, as determined by the Department; (e) The cost for a public records request requiring the Department to access the State's mainframe computer system, may include but not be limited to costs for computer usage time, data transfer costs, disk workspace costs, programming, and fixed portion costs for printing and/or tape drive usage. (2) No additional fee will be charged for providing records or documents in an alternative format when required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). (3) The Department will notify requestors of the estimated fees for making the public records available for inspection or for providing copies to the requestor. The Department will provide written notice of the estimated fees and will not act further to respond to the request until the requestor notifies the Department, in writing, to proceed with making the records available: (a) The Department may require that all or a portion of the estimated fees be paid before the Department will proceed with making the record available; (b) The Department may require that actual costs of making the record available be paid before the record is made available for inspection or copies provided; (c) A requestor’s payment of estimated fees shall not be construed as payment of the actual costs of making the record available. If the actual costs of making the record available exceed the estimated fees paid by the requestor, then the Department may require that the total of the actual costs, minus the amount paid, of making the record available be paid before the record is made available for inspection or copies provided; (d) If the Department becomes aware that the estimated fees quoted to the requestor will be less than the actual fees owed at time of production, the Department will notify the requestor as soon as possible with an updated fee estimate and wait for the requestor to respond in writing whether they wish to proceed or modify their request based on the new estimate. (4) The Department may reduce or waive fees when a determination is made that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest because making the records available primarily benefits the general public. Factors that may be taken into account in making such a determination include, but are not limited to: (a) the requester’s identity; (b) the purpose for which the requester intends to use the information; (c) whether the requested information is already in the public domain; (d) The request is narrowly tailored to a matter of public interest; (e) whether the requester can demonstrate the ability to disseminate the information to the public; (f) The overall time needed and expense to be incurred by the Department to fulfill the request; (g) The volume of records requested is reasonable and not unduly burdensome to process; (h) The request requires the Department to segregate exempt from nonexempt materials; (i) The fees are otherwise avoidable, including the requestor’s ability to utilize ordinary tools of discovery as part of pending administrative, judicial, or arbitration proceedings; or (j) The ability of the requester to pay the fee. (5) All requests for waiver or reduction of fees must be made in writing to the Department. If the Department subsequently denies the written request for a waiver or reduction of fees, the requestor may petition the Attorney General for a review of the denial pursuant to the provisions of ORS 192.324(6).