This facially innocuous open records decision issued by the attorney general last week may be one of the most important decisions in recent memory.

It makes clear that an agency cannot impose copying charges when a requester expressly asks for electronic copies by email and the agency incurs no "actual costs."

Here, the requester used an electronic open records request form provided by the Finance and Administration Cabinet. She indicated that she wished to obtain the requested records by email. She marked the appropriate box for "responsive material less than 5MB" and provided her email address.

There were only two responsive records in existence, and both were electronic records.

Nevertheless, the Cabinet insisted on printing them out and charging for the paper copies.

The attorney general determined that the Finance Cabinet subverted the intent of the open records law under several provisions of the law, and noted —in the concluding paragraphs — that "the Cabinet cannot impose a copying fee for paper copies of electronic records requested in electronic format."

The 2014 open records decision on which the attorney general relied came close, but this is the "cigar."

Where there are no "actual costs," the agency can impose no copying fee. And the agency cannot elect to print the electronic records out to artificially create "actual costs."

While there may be limits on the size of electronically transmitted attachments to agency open records responses, this open records decision makes clear: No cost, no cost recovery.