Inquiry of the Week (6/14/99)

Is a city or county required to respond to public records disclosure requests by electronic means (e.g., fax or e-mail)?

Answer:

No. A city/county is under no obligation to respond to disclosure requests electronically - either by facsimile or by e-mailing a file. The public has a right to review public records at city or county offices, and the public has a right to obtain copies of public records if they pay the reasonable costs charged by the city/county. Whether or not a local government should respond by facsimile or e-mail is a policy/administrative decision. Of course, e-mailing a document that happens to be in electronic format will usually be easier and more cost efficient than mailing a paper copy. Depending on document length, faxing will also in many cases be a more timely and cost-efficient means of transmitting documents.

If a city/county responds to a public records disclosure request by transmitting an electronic file by e-mail or facsimile, the staff time spent in performing that task can be charged. A city/county should have an ordinance in place that provides the per-hour cost for various staff. Cities/counties could also adopt a policy limiting the number of pages they will transmit by fax.