2018 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 24 - Government - State
Public (Open) Records
Article 72 - Public Records
Part 2 - Inspection, Copying, or Photographing
§ 24-72-205. Copy, printout, or photograph of a public record - imposition of research and retrieval fee
(1) (a) In all cases in which a person has the right to inspect a public record, the person may request a copy, printout, or photograph of the record. The custodian shall furnish a copy, printout, or photograph and may charge a fee determined in accordance with subsection (5) of this section; except that, when the custodian is the secretary of state, fees shall be determined and collected pursuant to section 24-21-104 (3), and when the custodian is the executive director of the department of personnel, fees shall be determined and collected pursuant to section 24-80-102 (10). Where the fee for a certified copy or other copy, printout, or photograph of a record is specifically prescribed by law, the specific fee shall apply.
(b) Upon request for records transmission by a person seeking a copy of any public record, the custodian shall transmit a copy of the record by United States mail, other delivery service, facsimile, or electronic mail. No transmission fees may be charged to the record requester for transmitting public records via electronic mail. Within the period specified in section 24-72-203 (3)(a), the custodian shall notify the record requester that a copy of the record is available but will only be sent to the requester once the custodian either receives payment or makes arrangements for receiving payment for all costs associated with records transmission and for all other fees lawfully allowed, unless recovery of all or any portion of such costs or fees has been waived by the custodian. Upon either receiving such payment or making arrangements to receive such payment at a later date, the custodian shall send the record to the requester as soon as practicable but no more than three business days after receipt of, or making arrangements to receive, such payment.
(2) If the custodian does not have facilities for making a copy, printout, or photograph of a record that a person has the right to inspect, the person shall be granted access to the record for the purpose of making a copy, printout, or photograph. The copy, printout, or photograph shall be made while the record is in the possession, custody, and control of the custodian thereof and shall be subject to the supervision of the custodian. When practical, the copy, printout, or photograph shall be made in the place where the record is kept, but if it is impractical to do so, the custodian may allow arrangements to be made for the copy, printout, or photograph to be made at other facilities. If other facilities are necessary, the cost of providing them shall be paid by the person desiring a copy, printout, or photograph of the record. The custodian may establish a reasonable schedule of times for making a copy, printout, or photograph and may charge the same fee for the services rendered in supervising the copying, printing out, or photographing as the custodian may charge for furnishing a copy, printout, or photograph under subsection (5) of this section.
(3) If, in response to a specific request, the state or any of its agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions has performed a manipulation of data so as to generate a record in a form not used by the state or by said agency, institution, or political subdivision, a reasonable fee may be charged to the person making the request. Such fee shall not exceed the actual cost of manipulating the said data and generating the said record in accordance with the request. Persons making subsequent requests for the same or similar records may be charged a fee not in excess of the original fee.
(4) If the public record is a result of computer output other than word processing, the fee for a copy, printout, or photograph thereof may be based on recovery of the actual incremental costs of providing the electronic services and products together with a reasonable portion of the costs associated with building and maintaining the information system. Such fee may be reduced or waived by the custodian if the electronic services and products are to be used for a public purpose, including public agency program support, nonprofit activities, journalism, and academic research. Fee reductions and waivers shall be uniformly applied among persons who are similarly situated.
(5) (a) A custodian may charge a fee not to exceed twenty-five cents per standard page for a copy of a public record or a fee not to exceed the actual cost of providing a copy, printout, or photograph of a public record in a format other than a standard page.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection (5), an institution, as defined in section 24-72-202 (1.5), that is the custodian of scholastic achievement data on an individual person may charge a reasonable fee for a certified transcript of the data.
(6) (a) A custodian may impose a fee in response to a request for the research and retrieval of public records only if the custodian has, prior to the date of receiving the request, either posted on the custodian's website or otherwise published a written policy that specifies the applicable conditions concerning the research and retrieval of public records by the custodian, including the amount of any current fee. Under any such policy, the custodian shall not impose a charge for the first hour of time expended in connection with the research and retrieval of public records. After the first hour of time has been expended, the custodian may charge a fee for the research and retrieval of public records that shall not exceed thirty dollars per hour.
(b) On July 1, 2019, and by July 1 of every five-year period thereafter, the director of research of the legislative council appointed pursuant to section 2-3-304 (1) shall adjust the maximum hourly fee specified in subsection (6)(a) of this section in accordance with the percentage change over the period in the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items and all urban consumers, or its successor index. The director of researchshall post the adjusted maximum hourly fee on the website of the general assembly.
