Wash. Admin. Code § 139-02-070 - Costs for providing copies of public records

(1) The following copy fees and payment procedures apply to requests to the agency under chapter 42.56 RCW.

(2) Actual costs. Pursuant to RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b), the agency is not calculating all actual costs for copying records because to do so would be unduly burdensome for the following reasons:

(a) The agency does not have the resources to conduct a study to determine all its actual copying costs;

(b) To conduct such a study would interfere with other essential agency functions; and

(c) Through the 2017 legislative process, the public and requestors have commented on and been informed of authorized fees and costs, including for electronic records, provided in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c), (3), and (4).

(3) There is no fee charged for inspecting public records.

(4) Costs for paper copies. The agency will charge for copies of paper records pursuant to the fees in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c) for each request.

(a) Before beginning to make copies for each request, the public records officer or designee may estimate costs of copying the records and may require a deposit of up to 10 percent of all the records selected by the requestor.

(b) The public records officer or designee may require the payment of the remainder of the copying costs before providing all the records, or the payment of the costs of copying an installment before providing that installment.

(c) The commission shall not charge sales tax when it makes copies of public records.

(5) Costs for electronic records. Electronic copies of records for each request shall be charged as follows pursuant to the fees in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c), which includes:

(a) Charge for scanned records or for use of agency equipment for scanning.

(b) Charge for each four electronic files or attachments uploaded to email, or cloud-based data storage service, or other means of electronic delivery.

(c) Charge per gigabyte for records transmitted in an electronic format or for use of agency equipment to send records electronically.

(d) Actual costs of any digital storage media or devices provided by the agency.

(e) Actual costs of a "customized service charge" when the request would require the use of information technology expertise to prepare data compilations or when such customized access services are not used by the agency for other business purposes.

(i) The agency will notify the requestor and take other steps if it will be doing a customized service charge.

(ii) The public records officer or designee may require a deposit of up to 10 percent of the estimated costs of copying all the records selected by the requestor. The public records officer or designee may also require the payment of the remainder of the copying costs before providing all the records, or the payment of the costs of copying an installment before providing that installment.

(iii) Copy charges may be combined to the extent more than one type of charge applies to copies responsive to a particular request.

(iv) Public records request fees do not supersede other statutory provisions for copying fees.

(6) Costs of mailing. The commission may also charge actual costs of mailing, including the cost of the shipping container.

(7) Payment. Payment shall be made through the fiscal department of the commission. The process to accept payments will be fully explained to the requestor.

(8) Payment date. The commission shall accept payment for 30 days after the date the payment invoice is mailed. If a requestor fails to pay by the payment date, the request will be closed per WAC 139-02-090 (11).

(9) Summary of charges. For each request, the commission will provide a summary of the applicable charges before copies are made and the requestor may revise the request to reduce the number of copies, thereby reducing the applicable charges.

(10) Waiver of charges. Waivers may be made at the discretion of the public records officer, except the public records officer or designee will not charge a requestor copying fees over a one-year period from the date of their initial request until their requests have exceeded:

(a) One hundred printed pages; or

(b) The equivalent of 250 printed pages of electronic records.

Notes

Wash. Admin. Code § 139-02-070

Amended by WSR 22-19-001, Filed 9/7/2022, effective 10/8/2022 Amended by WSR 24-13-058, Filed 6/13/2024, effective 7/14/2024

Statutory Authority: RCW 43.56.040 and 43.101.080. 09-13-066, §139-02-070, filed 6/16/09, effective 7/17/09. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.101.080. 00-17-017, §139-02-070, filed 8/4/00, effective 9/4/00.