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Policy on Charges and Payments for Public Records

.100 PURPOSE

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has a continuing commitment to follow the provisions of the state's laws on access to public records. That commitment includes establishment of a Department policy on fees and payment provisions used in recovery of the direct costs associated with providing copies of public records. Charges will be made only for expenses that are directly involved in providing public records.

.200 POLICY

The Table below details price per page, based on volume. These charges are the same, whether the Division possessing the public record does the copying or requires the requester to make the copies sought. The price assumes the requestor uses the department's copying equipment.
A page in these guidelines refers to "a single impression." For example, if a double-sided original is copied, two (2) impressions would have been made and the charge would be for 2 pages.

Table 1: Photocopy Expenses

Volume	Price Per Page
less than or equal to 25 pages	Free
greater than 25 pages	2.5¢ per page

A. Policy: General Policy on Charges

1. When the requestors make copies of public records and use their own copiers, NO charge is made.

2. Where data has been gathered and provided according to Federal mandates, Federal policy guidelines on copy charges override Department policy.

3. On requests for "special case" copies (oversized maps, high resolution copies, color copies), the Division/Section/Office providing the copies may charge a fee consistent with the direct costs of the copying. That costs shall be determined by the Division that possesses the public record.

B. Policy: Electronic Data

1. The direct costs associated with providing electronic copies of public records will vary depending on the media (method) used to prepare and distribute the data and on the time required by the data analyst to extract and/or format the data. In addition, a charge may be made for processor time and storage for data on the SIPS mainframe.

Table 2: Direct Costs of Requests for Electronic Data

Media				CPU*		Storage*	Analyst
Diskette	Tape	CD ROM	Print-Out	Internet/FTP	Batch	On-Line
$2/disk	$15/reel	$15/CD	$.05/	Free	$7.00/CPU	$28/CPU	$.0092 per megabyte per minute	$45 Per hr. Per day

* Assumes data exists on SIPS mainframe. Rates will change with change at SIPS.

C. Policy: Postage and Shipping

1. Postage and shipping charges will be the direct costs charged by the U.S. Mail Service and courier services; shipping to include materials used for mailing.

D. Policy: Payments

1. No deposits will be required of requestors seeking copies of public records.

2. Each Division/Section/Office responding to requests for public records will take care of its own collections and maintain its own billing records.

3. When photocopies or electronic copies of public records are made by the custodian on-site with the requestor present, payment is to be made immediately upon the completion of the copying. Custodian may require prior payment for data distributed off-site (by mail or otherwise shipped).

4. If a requestor is more than 30 days past due on payment, then the custodian many deny further requests by the same requestor for information until the balance is paid. The Custodian may refer any debts incurred for copying of public records that remain uncollectible to the Attorney General's Office for collection.

5. Payment may be made (at the discretion of the Division) by check, certified check, money order, credit card, or cash. A receipt will be provided upon request.

6. Checks and money orders for payment of copies of public records must be made payable to: "DENR (Division Name or Section Name)" (e.g. DENR/Water Quality)
7. Receipts for funds paid for copies of public records should be deposited at least once each week; receipts in excess of $250 must be deposited within 24 hours of collection.

E. Policy: Accounting and Budgeting

1. Receipts collected by any Division/Section/Office will be placed in the appropriate account and center codes. Below are recommended revenue accounts and associated types of receipts.

434132001	Data Processing Services	CPU, Storage, Analyst Charges
434134	Printing, Binding, and Duplication Services	Photocopies
434310	Sale of Publications	Pre-printed maps, documents
43490	Other Sale of Goods	Printout, media

2. Revenue generated by the sale of copies of public records must be used only to directly offset the allowable expenses of preparing and distributing public records.

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