To: Board of County Commissioners
Prepared By:
prepared
Ron Carl, County Attorney
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Subject:
title
Arapahoe County’s Public Records Policy
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
To seek adoption of the attached amended public (open) records policy.
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Background and Discussion:
The Board of County Commissioners adopted the current version of the County’s public records policy in February of 2021. The current policy states that the fee for research, retrieval and redaction of public records is $30 per hour, with the first hour free.
State law requires the Director of Research of the Legislative Council Staff to adjust the maximum allowed hourly fee for the research and retrieval of public records for inflation every five years. The Director recently raised the maximum allowed fee for research and retrieval to $41.37 per hour.
The attached amended policy, if adopted, provides that going forward the fee to be charged by Arapahoe County for research, retrieval and redaction will be the maximum hourly fee as set by the Director of Research, rounded down to the nearest dollar. The immediate impact of this change is that the County’s fee will raise from $30 per hour to $41 per hour, with the first hour still free.
The proposed amended policy also makes some other minor changes, including providing for a centralized e-mail address where a public records request can be sent when the sender is not sure which specific office or department to send a request to.
Fiscal Impact: No significant financial impact is anticipated.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☒Be fiscally sustainable
☒Provide essential and mandated service
☒Be community focused
Resolution: See attached.