Senate File 2322 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2322 BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT (SUCCESSOR TO SF 480) (SUCCESSOR TO SF 218) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the assessment of fees when a person 1 requests examination and copying of public records. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2184SZ (3) 89 cm/rh

S.F. 2322 Section 1. Section 22.3, Code 2022, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 22.3 Supervision —— fees. 3 1. The examination and copying of public records shall 4 be done under the supervision of the lawful custodian of 5 the records or the custodian’s authorized designee. The 6 lawful custodian shall not require the physical presence of 7 a person requesting or receiving a copy of a public record 8 and shall fulfill requests for a copy of a public record 9 received in writing, by telephone, or by electronic means. 10 Fulfillment Although fulfillment of a request for a copy of 11 a public record may be contingent upon receipt of payment of 12 reasonable expenses to be incurred in fulfilling the request 13 and , the lawful custodian shall make every reasonable effort 14 to provide the public record requested at no cost other 15 than copying costs for a record which takes less than thirty 16 minutes to produce. In the event expenses are necessary, such 17 estimated expenses shall be reasonable and communicated to the 18 requester upon receipt of the request. A person may contest 19 the reasonableness of the custodian’s expenses as provided for 20 in this chapter. The lawful custodian may adopt and enforce 21 reasonable rules regarding the examination and copying of the 22 records and the protection of the records against damage or 23 disorganization. The lawful custodian shall provide a suitable 24 place for the examination and copying of the records, but if 25 it is impracticable to do the examination and copying of the 26 records in the office of the lawful custodian, the person 27 desiring to examine or copy shall pay any necessary expenses of 28 providing a place for the examination and copying. 29 2. All reasonable expenses of the examination and copying 30 shall be paid by the person desiring to examine or copy. The 31 lawful custodian may charge a reasonable fee for the services 32 of the lawful custodian or the custodian’s authorized designee 33 in supervising the examination and copying of the records. 34 If copy equipment is available at the office of the lawful 35 -1- LSB 2184SZ (3) 89 cm/rh 1/ 2

S.F. 2322 custodian of any public records, the lawful custodian shall 1 provide any person a reasonable number of copies of any public 2 record in the custody of the office upon the payment of a fee. 3 The fee for the copying service as determined by the lawful 4 custodian shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the 5 service. Actual costs shall include only those reasonable 6 expenses directly attributable to supervising the examination 7 of and making and providing copies of public records. Actual 8 costs shall not include charges for ordinary expenses or 9 costs such as employment benefits, depreciation, maintenance, 10 electricity, or insurance associated with the administration of 11 the office of the lawful custodian. Costs for legal services 12 should only be utilized for the redaction or review of legally 13 protected confidential information. However, a county recorder 14 shall not charge a fee for the examination and copying of 15 public records necessary to complete and file claims for 16 benefits with the Iowa department of veterans affairs or the 17 United States department of veterans affairs. 18 EXPLANATION 19 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 20 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 21 This bill relates to fees associated with public records 22 requests. 23 The bill provides that although fulfillment of a request 24 for copies of public records may be contingent upon receipt 25 of payment of reasonable expenses, the lawful custodian shall 26 make every reasonable effort to provide the public records at 27 no cost other than copy costs for a record that takes less than 28 30 minutes to produce. A person is allowed to contest the 29 reasonableness of the fees charged by the custodian. 30 The bill provides that actual costs shall only include 31 reasonable expenses directly attributable to supervising the 32 examination of and making of copies of public records. Costs 33 for legal services shall only be charged for the redaction or 34 review of confidential information. 35 -2- LSB 2184SZ (3) 89 cm/rh 2/ 2