Iowa governor wants agencies to start charging for attorneys reviewing records requests
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver wants state agencies to start charging requesters for the cost of attorneys reviewing public records requests (see Associated Press story). This is dangerous stuff. It's bad enough when an agency tries to charge for search and retrieval time, and then high copying costs. But adding attorney fees for reviewing requests will make some requests too costly for citizens and journalists. And philosophically it's just wrong. Why should a citizen have to pay an agency to figure out the law? Iowa state law says a "reasonable fee" can be charged to retrieve, copy and supervise the examination of records, and that "Actual costs shall include only those expenses directly attributable to supervising the examination of, and making and providing copies of public records. Actual costs shall not include charges for ordinary expenses." I consider the agency considering whether the record is public or not as an ordinary expense. I shouldn't have to pay a lot more money because an agency doesn't even know the public records law and needs an attorney to look at my request. The story suggests that it's a gray area nationwide and that the government has a strong leg to stand on, but a quick check of how this is done nationwide using the Reporters Committee Open Government Guide comparison Web site, shows that many states don't allow this kind of overcharging practice. While Maryland, Maine and a few other states directly allow the charging of attorney fees for reviewing requests when preparing records, Iowa should follow the more sane states that don't allow such fees to be added to requests, particularly when someone just wants to see some public records for noncommercial uses, including Florida, Minnesota, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. Journalists should not just shrug and walk away, taking what the officials say as gospel and accepting the fate of increased secrecy. Turn and fight!