Okla. Admin. Code § 210:1-3-11 - Open Records Act
(a)
Official
records. All files, records, minutes, proceedings, rules, documents,
decisions, opinions, written statements of policy, and written materials of any
other nature required by law to be maintained by the State Board of Education
or the State Department of Education and not otherwise exempt from public
disclosure pursuant to the provisions of state and/or federal law shall be made
available promptly for public inspection, copying, or mechanical reproduction
upon reasonable notice during regular business hours in accordance with the
provisions of the Open Records Act at 51 O.S. §
24A.1 et
seq. and the procedures set forth below.
(b)
Records subject to
disclosure. Any document that comes within the statutory definition of a
"record" and is not required to be kept confidential by State or federal law,
or otherwise exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Open Records Act will be
available for inspection and copying between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30
p.m. Monday through Friday, except state holidays, at the location where the
records are housed, which is generally the Oliver Hodge Education Building,
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City.
(c)
Procedure for records
requests. Any individual or group seeking access to public records
maintained by the State Board of Education or the State Department of Education
shall submit a request to the State Department of Education Office of Legal
Services, by fax, email, regular mail or in person. In order to provide prompt,
reasonable access to records, to ensure that records requests are accurately
communicated to the records custodian, and to enable the records custodian to
accurately process the request, it is recommended that records requests be
submitted in writing. In addition, all records requests must comply with the
following provisions:
(1) All records requests
must include:
(A) Identification of the
individual and/or entity making the request;
(B) If the Requester is an entity rather than
an individual, a name of a contact authorized to communicate with the records
custodian on behalf of the Requester;
(C) Sufficient contact information at which
the Requester may be contacted by the records custodian to comply with the
records request procedures set forth in this Section;
(D) A description of the records requested
with sufficient detail necessary to enable the records custodian to reasonably
identify whether records responsive to the request exist;
(E) Whether the Requester seeks copies of any
or all of the records requested and if so, whether the Requester seeks
certified copies of any or all of the records requested; and
(F) If the Requester claims the public
interest exemption from search fees in accordance with the provisions of (d) of
this Section, all information necessary for the records custodian to determine
the applicability of the exemption.
(2) An Open Records Act request form is
provided on the OSDE website. The form may be submitted by email, fax, or
regular mail via the addresses stated on the form. The form may also be
obtained by writing to the Oklahoma State Department of Education Office of
Legal Services, Oliver Hodge Education Building, 2500 N. Lincoln Blvd., Room
117, Oklahoma City, OK 73105.
(3)
Requests submitted will not be deemed to have been received unless and until
the request has been identified as a request properly filed in accordance with
the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Records Act at 51 O.S. §
24A.1 et
seq. and the procedures set forth in this Section.
(4) Within a prompt and reasonable time of
the date of receipt of the request, the records custodian shall review the
request, seek any additional information from the Requester necessary to
clarify the request, and shall ascertain whether any records responsive to the
request exist.
(5) In addition, the
records custodian shall promptly notify the Requester of the following:
(A) Whether the request complies with the
provisions of this Section and the provisions of the Open Records
Act;
(B) Whether records responsive
to the request exist, and if so, the records custodian shall instruct the
Requester to confirm the record custodian's interpretation of the
request;
(C) If records responsive
to the request exist and require an additional search of data necessary to
identify and/or locate individual records of persons, whether the search will
incur any fees and costs pursuant to (d) of this Section and if so, an estimate
of search fees;
(D) If the
Requester asks to be provided copies of the requested records in lieu of
inspection, an estimate of the costs of copying the records requested as
necessary to deliver the responsive records to the Requester;
(E) That processing of the request will not
begin until any applicable records search fees and costs of copying have been
received by the agency; and
(F) In
the event the actual costs of copying and/or certification of records exceed
the estimate provided and the amount of payment actually received from the
Requester, that payment of any balance due from the Requester may be required
prior to delivery of the requested records.
(6) All records requests will be deemed to
have been received and processing of the request will begin when one of the
following conditions is met:
(A) If payment
of search fees or copying costs is required, upon receipt of:
(i) The fees and costs due; and
(ii) Receipt of any additional information
necessary from the Requester to clarify and/or process the request;
or
(B) If payment of
search fees or copying costs is not required, upon receipt by the records
custodian of:
(i) The Requester's confirmation
of the request required by (7) of this subsection; and
(ii) Receipt of any additional information
necessary from the Requester to clarify and/or process the request.
(7) Any request not
confirmed by receipt of the requisite search fee within thirty (30) calendar
days of the written notification set forth in (5) of this subsection shall be
deemed to be abandoned, unless, within the time stated, the Requester can show
cause why the confirmation should be delayed or postponed.
(8) If the Requester fails to furnish
additional information reasonably necessary to identify the records sought or
otherwise enable agency personnel to accurately process the request, any
further processing of the request may be suspended by the records custodian. A
request that remains suspended for a period of forty-five (45) calendar days or
more shall be deemed abandoned.
(d)
Fees for record searches and copies
of records. Fees and costs associated with record searches and providing
copies of records shall be determined in accordance with the following
procedures:
(1)
Fees to recover
reasonable and direct costs of record searches. Requests that are either
solely for commercial purposes or requests that cause an excessive disruption
of the essential functions of the agency are subject to fees for recovery of
the reasonable, direct costs of record searches in accordance with the
provisions of 51 O.S. §
24A.5(3),
provided that no search fee will be charged when the release of records is in
the public interest, including, but not limited to, release to the news media,
scholars, authors and taxpayers seeking to determine whether those entrusted
with the affairs of the government are honestly, faithfully, and competently
performing their duties as public servants.
(2)
Fees to recover reasonable and
direct costs of record copies. Requests that are either solely for
commercial purposes or requests that cause an excessive disruption of the
essential functions of the agency are subject to fees for recovery of the
reasonable, direct costs of copying records in accordance with the provisions
of 51 O.S. §
24A.5(3).
(A) For purposes of this paragraph, "copying"
of a record may include costs of:
(i)
Mechanical reproduction of a paper record ("hard copy"); or
(ii) Conversion of a record into an
electronic format (e.g., .pdf) as necessary for delivery to the
requester.
(B) In no
instance shall the fee per page fee for copies of documents exceed the amount
set forth in 51 O.S. § 25A.5(3) .
(C) The State Superintendent of Public
Instruction is authorized to periodically review and adjust the rates that will
be charged for providing copies of records in accordance with state law. Those
rates will include costs for record copies, document searches and transcript
rates. The rates will be posted at the Oliver Hodge building and filed with the
country clerk as required by law.
(D) All fees and/or costs shall be paid by
the Requester prior to delivery of the response to the request. All fees must
be paid by check or money order payable to the Oklahoma State Department of
Education. No cash will be accepted.
(e)
Processing and response
times. The agency will provide prompt, reasonable access to records in
accordance with the requirements of 51 O.S. § 25A.5(5) . The period of
time considered prompt and reasonable is dependent upon a number of variable
factors including, but not limited to:
(1) The
scope and complexity of the request;
(2) Whether the workload of the agency or
agencies necessary to respond to the request permits a response to the request
without excessive disruption of essential services of the
agency/agencies;
(3) Whether the
records request includes:
(A) A sufficiently
detailed description of the request by the requestor necessary for the agency
to ascertain the existence of records responsive to the request;
(B) Records or portions of records deemed
confidential by state and/or federal law which must be removed or redacted in
order to permit inspection of the records.
(4) Whether the Requester requested copies of
the records and if so, whether the Requester has paid applicable fees and/or
costs set forth in (d) of this Section;
(5) Whether additional steps by the agency
must be taken in order to ensure that inspection, copying, and/or response to
the records can be provided without jeopardizing the integrity and organization
of the records; and
(6) Whether
student data is included within the scope of its request, and if so:
(A) Time necessary to de-identify and
aggregate student data in accordance with the requirements of the Federal
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) at
20 U.S.C. §
1232g et seq. and accompanying regulations;
the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013 at
70 O.S. §
3-168
and accompanying regulations; or any other applicable provisions of state or
federal law pertaining to confidentiality of records; or
(B) Time necessary to obtain approval of the
State Board of Education in accordance with the requirements of the Student
Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013 at 70 O.S.
§
3-168
and accompanying regulations.
Notes
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