Current through September 24, 2024
(1) There is no charge for inspection of
public records.
(2) No charges will
be assessed for copies and duplicates unless the production costs exceed five
dollars ($5).
(3) The Public
Records Request Coordinator must provide a requestor with an itemized estimate
of charges exceeding fifty dollars ($50) prior to producing copies of public
records and may require pre-payment of such charges before producing requested
public records.
(4) Fees and
charges for copies are:
(a) $0.15 per page for
81/2" x 11" and 81/2" x 14" black and white copies. ETSU will waive
fees associated with requests for public records that are fewer than 30 pages
of black and white copies.
(b)
$0.50 per page for 81/2" x 11" and 81/2" x 14" color copies. The fee
for color copies will not be waived.
(c) The charge for a double-sided (duplex)
copy is the same as the charge for two one-sided copies.
(d) If a copy of a public record is produced
on a medium other than for 81/2" x 11" and 81/2" x 14" paper, the
Public Records Request Coordinator may assess a copy charge equal to the actual
cost of producing a copy of the public record, considering the amount of
materials, equipment costs, and the cost of the alternative medium.
(e) ETSU is not obligated to provide
electronic copies of the requested public records when the requested public
records are not maintained electronically.
(f) ETSU may charge the actual costs for
flash drives or similar storage devices on which electronic copies are
provided.
(5) ETSU may
charge the requestor the hourly wage of the employee(s) reasonably necessary to
produce the requested public records above the labor threshold.
(a) The "labor threshold" is the labor of the
employee(s) reasonably necessary to produce requested public records for the
first hour incurred by ETSU in producing the public records. "Labor" means the
employee time reasonably necessary to produce the requested public records and
includes the time spent locating, retrieving, reviewing, redacting, and
reproducing the public records.
(b)
In calculating the labor costs to be charged to the requestor:
1. First, determine the number of hours each
employee spent producing the requested public records.
2. Second, subtract the one-hour labor
threshold from the number of hours the highest paid employee spent producing
the request.
3. Third, multiply the
total number of hours to be charged for the labor of each employee by that
employee's hourly wage.
4. Fourth,
add together the totals for all the employees involved in the request to
determine the total amount of the labor costs to be charged to the
requestor.
(c) Labor
costs should be tracked based on tenths of an hour, rounded down.
(d) Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §
8-4-604(a)(2) and the Office of Open Records Counsel' s Policy on Reasonable
Charges for Frequent and Multiple Requests, combined labor charges may be
assessed for four (4) or more requests from the same requestor submitted within
a 30-day period for any ETSU public record.
(6) ETSU has discretion to determine how
payment for fees and costs should be made and whether advanced payment is
required.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
10-7-503, et
seq., and 10-7-506(a).