HAR §2-71-19. Assessment of fees; prepayment

When a person requests access to a government 71-10 2156 §2-71-20 record under part II of chapter 92F, HRS, the agency may charge the requester: (1) Fees for searching for, reviewing, and segregating the record; provided that these fees shall be assessed in accordance with this chapter; and (2) Any other lawful fees. (b) An agency may require a requester to prepay the following before the agency begins the search for and review of records in order to respond to a request for access: (1) Fifty per cent of the total estimated fees for searching for, reviewing, and segregating records when the estimated fees exceed $30; (2) One hundred per cent of other estimated lawful fees under paragraph (a) for other services to prepare and or transmit the record; and (3) One hundred per cent of the outstanding fees from previous requests, including abandoned requests, in accordance with subsection (d). (c) The agency shall inform the requester of the requirement to prepay in its notice in accordance with section 2-71-14. (d) A requester is liable for and shall pay any fees outstanding for services rendered by an agency to respond to any previous or current request. Upon written request, the agency shall provide an itemized bill of all fees assessed. [Eff t'tl:) 2 ti 1999 ] (Auth: HRS §92F-42) (Imp: HRS §92F-42) § 2-71-20 Public access to disclosable records provided by a secondary source. (a) An agency may make arrangements to have another person serve as a secondary source of agency information; provided that the agency itself does the following: (1) Allows public inspection and duplication of any disclosable government record that the agency maintains pursuant to chapter 92F, HRS; and (2) Performs, as necessary, any review and segregation of a government record before providing the record, or a copy thereof, to the secondary source for the purpose of making the record available for public inspection and copying upon request. 71-11 2156 [Eff FEB 2 6 1999 ] (Auth: HRS §92F-42) (Imp: HRS §92F-42) §2-71-20 (b) "Secondary source" means a person, including another agency, commercial entity, or nonprofit organization, with whom an agency makes arrangements to offer public inspection and copying of disclosable information from,..government records of the agency. §§2-71-21 to 2-71-30 (Reserved). SUBCHAPTER 3 FEES FOR SEARCHING FOR, REVIEWING, AND SEGREGATING GOVERNMENT RECORDS §2-71-31 Fees for searching for, reviewing, and segregating records; exceptions. (a) When an agency intends to charge fees pursuant to section 2-71-19(a) (1), the agency shall charge the following fees, except as otherwise provided in subsection (b): (1) For a search for the record, $2.50 per fifteen minutes or fraction thereof; (2) For the review and segregation of the record, $5 per fifteen minutes or fraction thereof; and (3) If applicable, the actual rate of charge, based upon time expenditure, that is charged to the agency by a person other than the agency for services to assist the agency in the search for the record. The agency shall not assess the first $30 in total amount of the fees under paragraphs (1) and (2). (b) For those agencies which, by statute, are required to recover actual costs, in lieu of the fees set forth in subsection (a), an agency may establish fees, by rule, that do not exceed in their totality the actual costs incurred from searching for, reviewing, and segregating records. The fees may include: (1) The actual time expended by personnel in performing the search, review, or segregation of the record; and (2) Where the information requested is part of an electronic database or other electronic method of information storage, the actual cost of: 2156 71-12 §2-71-32 (A) Modifications to existing programming capacity; or (B) Additional equipment or software used to search for, review, or segregate the information. (c) Before initiating the rulemaking process under chapter 91, HRS, an agency that will establish fees under subsection (b) shall submit to the OIP for review a copy of the rule, including any amendments, setting forth the fees. (d) No fees may be assessed by the agency under this section for the search for, review, or segregation of a record when: (1) It is not necessary for the agency to search for, review, or segregate a record in order to permit inspection or duplication of the requested record; and (2) To the extent permitted by section 2-71-32, the agency finds that the public interest would be served by a waiver of these fees. (e) An agency may waive the fees for any agency or any federal or foreign government entity requesting access to a government record. [Eff FEB 26 1999 ] (Auth: HRS §92F-42) (Imp: HRS §92F-42) §2-71-32 Waiver of fees when public interest served. (a) An agency shall waive $60 of the fees that may be assessed under section 2-71-31 when: (1) The request for a waiver of fees is supported by a statement of facts, including-the requester's identity, in accordance with section 2-71-12; and (2) The agency finds that the waiver of fees would be in the public interest pursuant to this section. (b) A waiver of fees is in the public interest when: (1) The requested record pertains to the operation or activities of an agency; however, the agency shall not consider the record's relative importance to the public in applying this subsection; (2) The record is not readily available in the public domain; and ( 3) The requester has the primary intention and the actual ability to widely disseminate information from the government record to the 71-13 21 56 [Eff FEB261999 with section 2-71-19. (Imp: HRS §92F-42)