Costs of providing public records

Costs of providing public records A. Cost of production of records. Section 25-61-7(1), Miss. Code of 1972, reads as follows: “Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, each public body may establish and collect fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for, and in no case to exceed, the actual cost of searching, reviewing and/or duplicating and, if applicable, mailing copies of public records.” The following table sets out MDHS Public Records reimbursement rates. 1) An explanation of standard commercial pricing used to determine this charge is available from the Public Records Officer if requested. 2) Before beginning to make the copies, the requestor must pre-pay all reasonably 8 ½” x 11" ….$.15 per page (black and white) $.52 per page (color copies) 8 ½” x 14" ….$.50 per page (black and white) $.87 per page (color copies) 11" x 17” ….$.75 per page (black and white) $.1.12 per page (color copies) Electronic copies on flash drive provided by MDHS: 16GB……$11.38 (actual cost of flash drive only) 32GB……$13.13 ...................................... 64GB……$20.39 ...................................... 128GB…..$33.16 ...................................... 256GB…..$53.04 Actual time of lowest paid employee who could access and or compile and produce the records will be charged for: copying, scanning, research, reproduction, technical or professional assistance, automated records search, and legal review if necessary. Actual costs will be charged for: packaging and postage, any shipping charges, or reproduction at an outside print facility if requested and/or approved by the requester. 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 in an installment before providing that installment. MDHS will not charge sales tax when it makes copies of public records. 3) When the time to compile the records will likely be more than one hour, MDHS will notify the requestor of the estimated cost to obtain the requested records prior to compiling the documents. The requestor will be required to reimburse MDHS for reasonable costs sufficient to cover the actual expenses incurred by MDHS to furnish the requested information. Payment must be made in advance of the receipt of documents. If the actual cost is higher than the estimate, the requestor will be required to pay the difference before receiving the information. If the actual cost is lower than the estimate, MDHS will refund the difference if a deposit is made before the records are compiled. 4) Please note that the following types of public records requests usually require additional research and staff time and can have significant costs associated with filling the request: a. Requests for very large volumes of materials; b. Requests that are too broad or unspecific in scope c. Requests for information that have already been archived; and d. Requests for documents that are unusual in size. B. Cost for electronic records. The costs of electronic copies of records shall be determined on a case by case basis for information on a flash drive. The actual cost of the flash drive plus research and redaction time will be included. The cost of scanning existing MDHS paper or other non-electronic records is actual time (per hour) it takes for completion of scanning. There will be no charge for e-mailing electronic records to a requestor, unless another costs applies such as a scanning fee or system costs allowed under Section 25-61- 7(2), Miss. Code of 1972. C. Cost of mailing. MDHS may also charge actual costs of mailing, including the cost of the shipping container. D. Charge for searching, reviewing and redacting. The actual cost for searching for and reviewing and, if necessary, redacting exempt information from public records shall be based upon the hourly rate of compensation for the lowest paid agency employee qualified to perform the task, which shall be multiplied by the actual time to complete the task. E. Payment. Payment may be made by certified check, money order, or corporate check made payable to “State of Mississippi Treasurer” for the amount specified. No cash, personal checks, or credit/debit cards can be accepted. F. MDHS requires payment in advance for all costs before providing copies or access to records.