Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
(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)
Costs for paper copies.
There is no fee charged for inspecting public records. The agency will charge
for copies of paper records pursuant to the default fees in RCW 42.56.-120
(2)(b) and (c). A requestor may obtain standard black and white photocopies for
fifteen cents per page.
(a) Before beginning
to make copies, the public records officer or designee may estimate costs of
copying the records, and may require a deposit of up to ten 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
Washington state patrol shall not charge sales tax when it makes copies of
public records.
(4)
Costs for electronic records. Electronic copies of records shall
be charged as follows pursuant to
RCW
42.56.120(2)(b) and (c):
(a) Ten cents per page for scanned records or
for use of agency equipment for scanning.
(b) Five cents for each four electronic files
or attachments uploaded to email, or cloud-based data storage service, or other
means of electronic delivery.
(c)
Ten cents 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 ten 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.
(5)
Costs of mailing. The Washington state patrol may also charge
actual costs of mailing, including the cost of the shipping
container.
(6)
Payment. Payment shall be made payable to the Washington state
patrol.
(7)
Summary of
charges. Upon request the Washington state patrol 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.
(8)
Waiver of
charges [reserved]. It is within the discretion of the public records
officer or designee to waive copying fees when:
(a) All of the records responsive to an
entire request are paper copies only and are twenty-five or fewer pages;
or
(b) All of the records
responsive to an entire request are electronic and can be provided in a single
email with attachments of a size totaling no more than the equivalent of one
hundred printed pages. If that email for any reason is not deliverable, records
will be provided through another means of delivery, and the requestor will be
charged in accordance with this section.
Reviser's note: The brackets and enclosed
material in the text of the above section occurred in the copy filed by the
agency and appear in the Register pursuant to the requirements of
RCW
34.08.040.
Statutory Authority:
RCW
42.56.040 through 46.56.570 [42.56.570].
07-04-039, §
446-10-090, filed 1/30/07,
effective 3/2/07. Statutory Authority: RCW 42.17.250 and 42.17.300. 97-01-018,
§
446-10-090, filed 12/9/96,
effective 1/9/97. Statutory Authority: RCW 42.17.250. 90-10-097, §
446-10-090, filed 5/2/90,
effective 6/2/90; 79-04-037 (Order 79-2), §
446-10-090, filed
3/23/79.
