Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Amye B. Majors, Assistant Attorney General
IN RE: Richard W. Richards/City of West Buechel
OPEN RECORDS DECISION
This matter comes to the Attorney General on appeal from the actions of the City of West Buechel relative to Mr. Richard W. Richards' December 29, 1992, request to inspect and copy the minutes of the City's November, 1992, Council meetings. Mr. Richards indicates that although the city clerk, Patricia Taylor, provided him with copies of the minutes of the meetings, she charged him $ 1.00 per page. It is his position that this is an excessive charge.
The issue in this appeal is whether the City of West Buechel violated the Open Records Act by charging an excessive fee for reproducing public records. We conclude that the City's copying fee is clearly excessive.
This Office has consistently recognized that, pursuant to KRS 61.874(2), an agency may prescribe a reasonable fee for making copies which may not exceed the actual cost it incurs, not including the cost of staff required. See, e.g., OAG 92-79 and authorities cited therein. We believe that that opinion is dispositive of the present appeal. Unless the City of West Buechel can demonstrate that its actual cost for providing copies is $ 1.00 per page, based on the factors set forth in KRS 61.874(2), it must recalculate its copying fee to conform to the statutory requirements.
The City of West Buechel may challenge this decision by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882.