Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1)
All requests for copies of public records in the custody of the Board of
Geologist Examiners (Board) shall be made in writing to the Board
Administrator. Written requests may be delivered in person, by mail, by fax or
by email. All requests are subject to disclosure according to Oregon Public
Records Law.
(2) A public records
request may be submitted on a request form provided by the Board. If the form
is not used, the requestor must include the following information in the
request:
(a) The name and address of the
person requesting the public record;
(b) The telephone number, email address, and
other relevant contact information for the person requesting the public record;
(c) A sufficiently detailed
description of the records requested to allow the Board to search for and
identify if it has any records responsive to the request in accordance with
Oregon Public Records Law;
(d) The
date the request is submitted to the Board;
(e) Statement as to whether the person making
the request wants to inspect any responsive, non-exempt records at the Board
office or to receive copies of the records, and
(f) Signature of the person making the
request if the request is not made by email.
(3) The Board will respond to written public
records requests it receives under (2) of this rule as soon as practicable and
without unreasonable delay within the time periods provided in ORS
192.324 and
192.329.
(4) The Board charges fees for responding to
public records requests which are reasonably calculated to cover costs of the
response and records provided. Fees are designed to cover the cost of locating,
reviewing, compiling, making available for inspection, preparing copies, and
delivering the response and public records. Fees are as follows:
(a) Two (2) cents per page for photocopies,
where a double-sided copy equals two (2) pages;
(b) At the Board Administrator's discretion,
copies of public records may be provided electronically if stored in the
Board's computer system. Electronic records may be provided by email or by
other means as deemed appropriate by the Board Administrator. Due to the
potential threat of computer viruses, the agency will not permit requestors to
provide disks, USB drives, or other electronic devices for reproduction of
electronic records;
(A) The cost of records
transmitted by email is five (5) dollars per email, except when (6) of this
rule applies, and may contain as much information as the Board email system
will handle per email;
(B) The cost
of records transmitted by other electronic means is five (5) dollars per device
and may contain as much information as the electronic device will
hold.
(c) Estimated cost
for delivery of records such as postage and courier fees; and
(d) Labor charges that include researching,
locating, reviewing, compiling, editing and otherwise processing information
and records responsive to the request:
(A) No
charge for the first thirty (30) minutes of staff time;
(B) After the first thirty (30) minutes, the
staff labor rate is twenty-five (25) dollars per hour, with a six dollars
twenty-five cents (6.25) minimum;
(C) Actual attorney and other legal fees and
costs charged to the Board for review of the request, records, redacting
confidential materials from the public records, segregating the public records
into exempt and nonexempt records, and response.
(e) Miscellaneous fees related to production
and release of public records responsive the request such as:
(A) expedited retrieval from the State of
Oregon Records Center;
(B) costs of
hardware or software needed to manage the request (such as for a large volume
of data);
(C) other third party
costs incurred by the Board in preparing a response and providing responsive
records.
(f) If fees are
estimated to be more than twenty-five (25) dollars, the requestor will be
provided a written cost estimate by Board staff before the Board responds to
the request. The requestor must then timely confirm to the Board in writing
that the requestor wants the Board to proceed with making the records available
and understands the estimated fees. The Board will not take further action on
the request prior to receiving such confirmation from the requestor. The Board
will try to work with the requestor to determine if refinement of the request
would result in reduced cost;
(g)
The fee structure as described in (4)(a)-(4)(f) does not apply to Board records
with established prices per record as listed in OAR 809-010-0001 Fees.
(5) Fees for
public records requests must be paid as follows:
(a) Before the requested public records will
be made available for inspection or copies provided. The Board Administrator
may require pre-payment of estimated fees before taking further action on a
request;
(b) By check, money order,
or any credit card accepted by the Board office;
(c) If payment is rejected by the bank or
credit card company, the requesting party will be notified and be responsible
for any charges incurred by the Board as a result of the rejected payment. This
is in addition to the fees for response to the request.
(6) The Board Administrator may waive or
reduce fees for:
(a) Responses to requests
that can be provided with less than sixty (60) minutes of staff time and in
electronic format via email delivery; or
(b) Responses to requests that the Board
Administrator determines are in the public interest because making the public
records available primarily benefit the general public or Board
registrants;
(c) Any fee reductions
will be with respect to charges under (4)(d) and (4)(e) of this rule.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
670.310,
182.466,
192.318 & 192.324
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
192.311 & 192.390
