2016 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 1 - Provisions of General Application
Chapter 14 - Freedom of Information Act
Section 1-212 - (Formerly Sec. 1-15). Copies and scanning of public records. Fees.

(a) Any person applying in writing shall receive, promptly upon request, a plain, facsimile, electronic or certified copy of any public record. The type of copy provided shall be within the discretion of the public agency, except (1) the agency shall provide a certified copy whenever requested, and (2) if the applicant does not have access to a computer or facsimile machine, the public agency shall not send the applicant an electronic or facsimile copy. The fee for any copy provided in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act:

(A) By an executive, administrative or legislative office of the state, a state agency or a department, institution, bureau, board, commission, authority or official of the state, including a committee of, or created by, such an office, agency, department, institution, bureau, board, commission, authority or official, and also including any judicial office, official or body or committee thereof but only in respect to its or their administrative functions, shall not exceed twenty-five cents per page; and

(B) By all other public agencies, as defined in section 1-200, shall not exceed fifty cents per page. If any copy provided in accordance with said Freedom of Information Act requires a transcription, or if any person applies for a transcription of a public record, the fee for such transcription shall not exceed the cost thereof to the public agency.

(b) The fee for any copy provided in accordance with subsection (a) of section 1-211 shall not exceed the cost thereof to the public agency. In determining such costs for a copy, other than for a printout which exists at the time that the agency responds to the request for such copy, an agency may include only:

(1) An amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to all agency employees engaged in providing the requested computer-stored public record, including their time performing the formatting or programming functions necessary to provide the copy as requested, but not including search or retrieval costs except as provided in subdivision (4) of this subsection;

(2) An amount equal to the cost to the agency of engaging an outside professional electronic copying service to provide such copying services, if such service is necessary to provide the copying as requested;

(3) The actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the person making the request in complying with such request; and

(4) The computer time charges incurred by the agency in providing the requested computer-stored public record where another agency or contractor provides the agency with computer storage and retrieval services. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the fee for any copy of the names of registered voters shall not exceed three cents per name delivered or the cost thereof to the public agency, as determined pursuant to this subsection, whichever is less. The Department of Administrative Services shall provide guidelines to agencies regarding the calculation of the fees charged for copies of computer-stored public records to ensure that such fees are reasonable and consistent among agencies.

(c) A public agency may require the prepayment of any fee required or permitted under the Freedom of Information Act if such fee is estimated to be ten dollars or more. The sales tax provided in chapter 219 shall not be imposed upon any transaction for which a fee is required or permissible under this section or section 1-227.

(d) The public agency shall waive any fee provided for in this section when:

(1) The person requesting the records is an indigent individual;

(2) The records located are determined by the public agency to be exempt from disclosure under subsection (b) of section 1-210;

(3) In its judgment, compliance with the applicant's request benefits the general welfare;

(4) The person requesting the record is an elected official of a political subdivision of the state and the official (A) obtains the record from an agency of the political subdivision in which the official serves, and (B) certifies that the record pertains to the official's duties; or

(5) The person requesting the records is a member of the Division of Public Defender Services or an attorney appointed by the court as a Division of Public Defender Services assigned counsel under section 51-296 and such member or attorney certifies that the record pertains to the member's or attorney's duties.

(e) Except as otherwise provided by law, the fee for any person who has the custody of any public records or files for certifying any copy of such records or files, or certifying to any fact appearing therefrom, shall be for the first page of such certificate, or copy and certificate, one dollar; and for each additional page, fifty cents. For the purpose of computing such fee, such copy and certificate shall be deemed to be one continuous instrument.

(f) The Secretary of the State, after consulting with the chairperson of the Freedom of Information Commission, the Commissioner of Correction and a representative of the Judicial Department, shall propose a fee structure for copies of public records provided to an inmate, as defined in section 18-84, in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. The Secretary of the State shall submit such proposed fee structure to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to government administration, not later than January 15, 2000.

(g) Any individual may copy a public record through the use of a hand-held scanner. A public agency may establish a fee structure not to exceed twenty dollars for an individual to pay each time the individual copies records at the agency with a hand-held scanner. As used in this section, “hand-held scanner” means a battery operated electronic scanning device the use of which (1) leaves no mark or impression on the public record, and (2) does not unreasonably interfere with the operation of the public agency.

(1949 Rev., S. 3625; 1959, P.A. 352, S. 1; P.A. 75-342, S. 5; P.A. 77-609, S. 3, 8; P.A. 89-251, S. 56, 203; P.A. 90-307, S. 4, 5; P.A. 91-347, S. 2, 5; P.A. 93-188, S. 1, 2; P.A. 94-112, S. 1; P.A. 95-144, S. 1; P.A. 97-47, S. 2, 3; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-9, S. 25, 50; P.A. 99-71, S. 2; 99-156, S. 2; P.A. 00-66, S. 6; P.A. 02-137, S. 3; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 140; P.A. 11-51, S. 19, 76; 11-150, S. 22; 11-220, S. 3; P.A. 12-205, S. 1.)

History: 1959 act doubled fees for certifying copies of records; P.A. 75-342 provided that copies of public records be provided upon written request, that fees for copies, printouts or transcriptions of public records not exceed their cost and that fees be waived in certain cases; P.A. 77-609 differentiated between fees charged for copies and fees charged for printouts or transcriptions, allowed agencies to require prepayment of fees and prohibited charging sales tax for fees estimated to be $10.00 or more; P.A. 89-251 increased the maximum fee for copies from $0.25 per page to $0.50 per page; P.A. 90-307 deleted provisions re maximum fee for a “printout” and added sentence re maximum fees for copies provided under Sec. 1-19a(b); P.A. 91-347 divided section into Subsecs., deleted reference to Subsec. (a) of Sec. 1-19a in Subsec. (a) and added provisions in Subsec. (b) re costs for a copy other than a printout, effective July 1, 1992; P.A. 93-188 amended Subsec. (b) to apply provisions re agency determination of costs to printout which does not exist at time agency responds to request for a copy and delete provisions giving secretary of office of policy and management jurisdiction over fee disputes re computer-stored records, effective June 23, 1993; P.A. 94-112 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting reference to Sec. 1-21j, adding reference to Sec. 1-21l, adding Subdiv. (1) re offices for which the fee for providing copies shall not exceed $0.25 per page and adding reference to “all other public agencies” in Subdiv. (2), and added new Subsec. (f) re fee structure proposal; P.A. 95-144 added implied reference to “1-21j” and deleted “1-21l” in Subsec. (a); P.A. 97-47 amended Subsecs. (a) and (c) by substituting “the Freedom of Information Act” for list of sections and for “this chapter”, respectively; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-9 amended Subsec. (b) by substituting “Department of Information Technology” for “Office of Information and Technology”, effective July 1, 1997; Sec. 1-15 transferred to Sec. 1-212 in 1999; P.A. 99-71 deleted former Subsec. (f) which had required Secretary of the State to propose fee structure for copies of public records; P.A. 99-156 added Subsec. (g), codified by the Revisors as Subsec. (f), re proposed fee structure for copies provided to inmates; P.A. 00-66 made a technical change in Subsec. (f); P.A. 02-137 added new Subsec. (d)(4) re records provided to an elected official of a political subdivision and added new Subsec. (g) re the use of a hand-held scanner; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 amended Subsec. (g) to increase maximum fee for hand-held scanner copy from $10 to $20; pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “Department of Information Technology” and “special assistant public defender” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Administrative Services” and “Division of Public Defender Services assigned counsel”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-150 amended Subsec. (a) to add reference to facsimile and electronic copies, to add provision giving agency discretion re type of copy except as limited by new Subdivs. (1) and (2) and to designate existing Subdivs. (1) and (2) as Subparas. (A) and (B), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-220 amended Subsec. (d) to add Subdiv. (5) re records requested by member of Division of Public Defender Services or special assistant public defender; P.A. 12-205 amended Subsec. (b)(4) to require Department of Administrative Services to provide guidelines rather than monitor calculation of fees, effective July 1, 2012.

Annotations to former section 1-15:

Cited. 174 C. 308; 181 C. 324; 182 C. 138; Id., 142; 190 C. 235; 192 C. 310; 204 C. 609; 205 C. 767; 206 C. 449; 207 C. 698; 208 C. 442; 209 C. 204; 210 C. 590; Id., 646; 212 C. 100; 213 C. 126; Id., 216; 214 C. 312; 216 C. 253; 217 C. 153; Id., 193; 218 C. 256; 221 C. 217; Id., 300; Id., 393; Id., 482; Id., 549; 222 C. 621; 227 C. 641; 228 C. 158; Id., 271; 240 C. 1; 241 C. 310.

Cited. 4 CA 468; 14 CA 380; judgment reversed, see 210 C. 646; 16 CA 49; 19 CA 352; Id., 539; 20 CA 671. Printout copies, not computer diskettes, are appropriate responses to information requests. 22 CA 316. Cited. 29 CA 547; Id., 821; 35 CA 111; 36 CA 155; 37 CA 589; 41 CA 67; 42 CA 402; 43 CA 133.

Cited. 41 CS 31; Id., 267; 42 CS 84; Id., 129; Id., 291; 43 CS 246.

Annotations to present section:

Section does not prohibit state agency from passing on licensing fees or from charging for the contractual cost of copying and disseminating copyrighted materials in addition to copying fees authorized by statute. 307 C. 648.

To meet the requirements of the term “certified”, document needs to be attested to as a true copy of the original, in writing, by an official with the authority to do so. 108 CA 471.

Subsec. (a):

Time limitation of two weeks set by commission to provide “prompt” access to requested public records, without any explanation or reason, was an arbitrary limitation and thus an abuse of discretion. 116 CA 171. Subsec. requires individual seeking copy of public record to reduce request to writing for request to be enforceable by Freedom of Information Commission; agency did not violate promptness requirement by failing to comply with oral requests for copies of documents. 130 CA 448.

Subsec. (e):

The term “page” means one side of a piece of printed matter. 108 CA 471.

Subsec. (g):

In light of plain and unambiguous text of statute, trial court did not improperly interpret language to require “hand-held scanners” to be “hand-held”, thus excluding use of flatbed scanner. 135 CA 202.