Ohio University's Office of Legal Affairs is considering a new policy for public records requests, which might include a fee for those records. This isn't such a big deal for huge records requests ' if, for example, someone requested months of e-mails, it adds up to a lot of copies, which can get expensive. The trouble arises with smaller requests. In a time when the university should be striving to appear more transparent, making media outlets ' and members of the public ' pay for all records requests would be troubling.
The university legally is allowed to charge for the printing costs only, because Ohio law forbids charging for manpower hours on records requests. While we can understand charging for paper and ink with large requests, please make it the market price: For some perspective, the standard rate at Kinkos is 8 cents per page for black-and-white copies.
The value of fulfilling small records requests for free cannot be overstated. The media have long relied on them to gain knowledge of institutions and governments. Members of the public would be hurt as well, not only by the burden on the press where they might get most of their information, but also by the impediment to filing their own records requests.
So here's a good compromise: Up to a certain number of pages, records would be provided free of charge. Upwards of that limit, copies would be about 10 cents per page. The public could still get information, and Legal Affairs wouldn't have to absorb the full cost of large requests ' an arrangement that would work well for everyone.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the executive editors.
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If Legal Affairs starts billing for records requests, this is the best system to use
