Sec. 1-212. (Formerly Sec. 1-15). Copies and scanning of public records. Fees.
Sec. 1-212. (Formerly Sec. 1-15). Copies and scanning of public records. Fees.
(a) Any person applying in writing shall receive, promptly upon request, a plain or
certified copy of any public record. The fee for any copy provided in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act:
(1) By an executive, administrative or legislative office of the state, a state agency
or a department, institution, bureau, board, commission, authority or official of the state,
including a committee of, or created by, such an office, agency, department, institution,
bureau, board, commission, authority or official, and also including any judicial office,
official or body or committee thereof but only in respect to its or their administrative
functions, shall not exceed twenty-five cents per page; and
(2) By all other public agencies, as defined in section 1-200, shall not exceed fifty
cents per page. If any copy provided in accordance with said Freedom of Information
Act requires a transcription, or if any person applies for a transcription of a public record,
the fee for such transcription shall not exceed the cost thereof to the public agency.
(b) The fee for any copy provided in accordance with subsection (a) of section 1-211 shall not exceed the cost thereof to the public agency. In determining such costs
for a copy, other than for a printout which exists at the time that the agency responds
to the request for such copy, an agency may include only:
(1) An amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to all agency employees engaged
in providing the requested computer-stored public record, including their time performing the formatting or programming functions necessary to provide the copy as
requested, but not including search or retrieval costs except as provided in subdivision
(4) of this subsection;
(2) An amount equal to the cost to the agency of engaging an outside professional
electronic copying service to provide such copying services, if such service is necessary
to provide the copying as requested;
(3) The actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the person making
the request in complying with such request; and
(4) The computer time charges incurred by the agency in providing the requested
computer-stored public record where another agency or contractor provides the agency
with computer storage and retrieval services. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section, the fee for any copy of the names of registered voters shall not exceed three
cents per name delivered or the cost thereof to the public agency, as determined pursuant
to this subsection, whichever is less. The Department of Information Technology shall
monitor the calculation of the fees charged for copies of computer-stored public records
to ensure that such fees are reasonable and consistent among agencies.
(c) A public agency may require the prepayment of any fee required or permitted
under the Freedom of Information Act if such fee is estimated to be ten dollars or more.
The sales tax provided in chapter 219 shall not be imposed upon any transaction for
which a fee is required or permissible under this section or section 1-227.
(d) The public agency shall waive any fee provided for in this section when:
(1) The person requesting the records is an indigent individual;
(2) The records located are determined by the public agency to be exempt from
disclosure under subsection (b) of section 1-210;
(3) In its judgment, compliance with the applicant's request benefits the general
welfare; or
(4) The person requesting the record is an elected official of a political subdivision
of the state and the official (A) obtains the record from an agency of the political subdivision in which the official serves, and (B) certifies that the record pertains to the official's
duties.
(e) Except as otherwise provided by law, the fee for any person who has the custody
of any public records or files for certifying any copy of such records or files, or certifying
to any fact appearing therefrom, shall be for the first page of such certificate, or copy
and certificate, one dollar; and for each additional page, fifty cents. For the purpose of
computing such fee, such copy and certificate shall be deemed to be one continuous
instrument.
(f) The Secretary of the State, after consulting with the chairperson of the Freedom
of Information Commission, the Commissioner of Correction and a representative of the
Judicial Department, shall propose a fee structure for copies of public records provided to
an inmate, as defined in section 18-84, in accordance with subsection (a) of this section.
The Secretary of the State shall submit such proposed fee structure to the joint standing
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to government administration, not later than January 15, 2000.
(g) Any individual may copy a public record through the use of a hand-held scanner.
A public agency may establish a fee structure not to exceed ten dollars for an individual
to pay each time the individual copies records at the agency with a hand-held scanner. As
used in this section, "hand-held scanner" means a battery operated electronic scanning
device the use of which (1) leaves no mark or impression on the public record, and (2)
does not unreasonably interfere with the operation of the public agency.
(1949 Rev., S. 3625; 1959, P.A. 352, S. 1; P.A. 75-342, S. 5; P.A. 77-609, S. 3, 8; P.A. 89-251, S. 56, 203; P.A. 90-307, S. 4, 5; P.A. 91-347, S. 2, 5; P.A. 93-188, S. 1, 2; P.A. 94-112, S. 1; P.A. 95-144, S. 1; P.A. 97-47, S. 2, 3; June 18
Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-9, S. 25, 50; P.A. 99-71, S. 2; 99-156, S. 2; P.A. 00-66, S. 6; P.A. 02-137, S. 3.)
History: 1959 act doubled fees for certifying copies of records; P.A. 75-342 provided that copies of public records be
provided upon written request, that fees for copies, printouts or transcriptions of public records not exceed their cost and
that fees be waived in certain cases; P.A. 77-609 differentiated between fees charged for copies and fees charged for
printouts or transcriptions, allowed agencies to require prepayment of fees and prohibited charging sales tax for fees
estimated to be $10.00 or more; P.A. 89-251 increased the maximum fee for copies from $0.25 per page to $0.50 per page;
P.A. 90-307 deleted provisions re maximum fee for a "printout" and added sentence re maximum fees for copies provided
under Sec. 1-19a(b); P.A. 91-347 divided section into Subsecs., deleted reference to Subsec. (a) of Sec. 1-19a in Subsec.
(a) and added provisions in Subsec. (b) re costs for a copy other than a printout, effective July 1, 1992; P.A. 93-188 amended
Subsec. (b) to apply provisions re agency determination of costs to printout which does not exist at time agency responds
to request for a copy and delete provisions giving secretary of office of policy and management jurisdiction over fee
disputes re computer-stored records, effective June 23, 1993; P.A. 94-112 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting reference to
Sec. 1-21j, adding reference to Sec. 1-21l, adding Subdiv. (1) re offices for which the fee for providing copies shall not
exceed $0.25 per page and adding reference to "all other public agencies" in Subdiv. (2), and added new Subsec. (f) re fee
structure proposal; P.A. 95-144 added implied reference to "1-21j" and deleted "1-21l" in Subsec. (a); P.A. 97-47 amended
Subsecs. (a) and (c) by substituting "the Freedom of Information Act" for list of sections and for "this chapter", respectively;
June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-9 amended Subsec. (b) by substituting "Department of Information Technology" for "Office of
Information and Technology", effective July 1, 1997; Sec. 1-15 transferred to Sec. 1-212 in 1999; P.A. 99-71 deleted
former Subsec. (f) which had required Secretary of the State to propose fee structure for copies of public records; P.A. 99-156 added Subsec. (g), codified by the Revisors as Subsec. (f), re proposed fee structure for copies provided to inmates;
P.A. 00-66 made a technical change in Subsec. (f); P.A. 02-137 added new Subsec. (d)(4) re records provided to an elected
official of a political subdivision and added new Subsec. (g) re the use of a hand-held scanner.
Annotations to former section 1-15:
Cited. 174 C. 308. Cited. 181 C. 324. Cited. 182 C. 138. Cited. (Reference made to Public Acts 1977, No. 77-609.) Id.,
142. Cited. 190 C. 235. Cited. 192 C. 310. Freedom of Information Act cited. 204 C. 609; 205 C. 767; 206 C. 449; 207 C.
698. Cited. 208 C. 442. Cited. 210 C. 590. Cited. 212 C. 100. Freedom of Information Act cited. 208 C. 442; 209 C. 204;
210 C. 590; Id., 646; 212 C. 100; 213 C. 126; Id., 216. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cited. 214 C. 312. Cited. 216
C. 253. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cited. Id. FOIA, Freedom of Information Act cited. 217 C. 153. Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) cited. 217 C. 193. Freedom of Information Act cited. 218 C. 256. Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) cited. 221 C. 217; Id., 300; Id., 393. Freedom of Information Act cited. Id., 482; Id., 549. Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) cited. 222 C. 621. Cited. 227 C. 641. Cited. 228 C. 158. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cited. Id. Freedom
of Information Act cited. Id., 271. Cited. 240 C. 1.
Freedom of Information Act cited. 4 CA 468; 14 CA 380; judgment reversed, see 210 C. 646. Freedom of Information
Act cited. 16 CA 49; 19 CA 352; Id., 539; 20 CA 671. Cited. 22 CA 316. Printout copies, not computer diskettes, are
appropriate responses to information requests. Id. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cited. Id. Cited. 29 CA 547. Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) cited. Id., 821. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cited. 35 CA 111. Cited. 36 CA 155.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Sec. 1-15 et seq. cited. 37 CA 589. Cited. 41 CA 67. Freedom of Information Act,
Sec. 1-15 et seq. cited. 42 CA 402. Freedom of Information Act cited. 43 CA 133.
Freedom of Information Act cited. 41 CS 31; Id., 267. Freedom of Information Act cited. 42 CS 84. Cited. Id., 129.
Freedom of Information Act cited. Id. Cited. Id., 291. Cited. 43 CS 246.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 241 C. 310.
Annotations to present section:
To meet the requirements of the term "certified", document needs to be attested to as a true copy of the original, in
writing, by an official with the authority to do so. 108 CA 471.
Subsec. (e):
The term "page" means one side of a piece of printed matter. 108 CA 471.