Fees And Charges

(1) Excessive fees and charges for copies of public records shall not be used to hinder access to public records. Unless otherwise required by statute, no charges will be assessed for copies and duplicates unless total cost of both copying and labor is more than $50. (2) Records custodians in collaboration with the PRRC shall provide requestors with an itemized estimate of the charges prior to producing copies of records and shall require pre-payment of such charges before producing requested records. (3) When fees for copies and labor do not exceed $50, the fees will be waived. Requests for waivers for fees above $50 must be presented to the PRRC, who is authorized to determine if such waiver is in the best interest of TDVS and for the public good. Fees associated with aggregated records requests will not be waived. Fees set by statute cannot be waived. (4) Fees and charges for copies are as follows: (a) $0.15 per page for letter and legal-size black and white copies. (b) $0.50 per page for letter and legal-size color copies. (c) Labor when time exceeds one hour. (d) If an outside vendor is used, the actual cost assessed by the vendor. (5) Fees for labor and actual costs will be assessed in accordance with the OORC’s Schedule of Reasonable Charges. (6) No duplication cost will be charged for requests for less than 10 pages. (7) Payment is to be made by check payable to the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services and presented to the records custodian via mail or hand delivery at William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower, 312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, 13th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243, unless otherwise informed by the PRRC. (8) Payment in advance is always required. (9) Aggregation of Frequent and Multiple Requests. (a) TDVS will aggregate records requests in accordance with the “Reasonable Charges for Frequent and Multiple Requests” Policy promulgated by the OORC when more than four requests are received within a calendar month either from a single individual or a group of individuals deemed to be working in concert. (b) Records requests will be aggregated at the Department level. (c) The PRRC is responsible for making the determination that a group of individuals are working in concert. As soon as practicable after such a determination is made, the PRRC shall inform the individuals in writing that they have been deemed to be working in concert and that they have the right to appeal the decision to the OORC.