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| 5 | 5 | | 2025 -- S 0582 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC001972 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS--COST |
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| 16 | 16 | | Introduced By: Senators E Morgan, Rogers, de la Cruz, and Paolino |
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| 17 | 17 | | Date Introduced: February 26, 2025 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Referred To: Senate Judiciary |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. Section 38-2-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 38-2 entitled "Access to Public 1 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Records" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 38-2-4. Cost. 3 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) Subject to the provisions of ยง 38-2-3, a public body must allow copies to be made or 4 |
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| 26 | 26 | | provide copies of public records. The cost per copied page of written documents provided to the 5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | public shall not exceed fifteen cents ($.15) per page for documents copyable on common business 6 |
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| 28 | 28 | | or legal size paper. A public body may not charge more than the reasonable actual cost for providing 7 |
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| 29 | 29 | | electronic records or retrieving records from storage where the public body is assessed a retrieval 8 |
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| 30 | 30 | | fee. 9 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (b) A reasonable charge may be made for the search or retrieval of documents. Hourly costs 10 |
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| 32 | 32 | | for a search and retrieval shall not exceed fifteen dollars ($15.00) per hour and no costs shall be 11 |
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| 33 | 33 | | charged for the first hour of a search or retrieval. For the purposes of this subsection, multiple 12 |
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| 34 | 34 | | requests from any person or entity to the same public body within a thirty (30) day time period shall 13 |
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| 35 | 35 | | be considered one request. 14 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (c) Copies of documents shall be provided and the search and retrieval of documents 15 |
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| 37 | 37 | | accomplished within a reasonable time after a request. A public body upon request, shall provide 16 |
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| 38 | 38 | | an estimate of the costs of a request for documents prior to providing copies. 17 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (d) Upon request, the public body shall provide a detailed itemization of the costs charged 18 |
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| 40 | 40 | | for search and retrieval. 19 |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | LC001972 - Page 2 of 3 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (e) A court may reduce or waive the fees for costs charged for search or retrieval if it 1 |
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| 45 | 45 | | determines that the information requested is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute 2 |
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| 46 | 46 | | significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. 4 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (f) The fees for costs charged for search, retrieval or copying shall be waived for members 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | of the general assembly who certify that they are acting in their official capacity and require the 6 |
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| 50 | 50 | | copies for the discharge of their legislative duties. 7 |
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| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 8 |
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| 52 | 52 | | ======== |
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| 53 | 53 | | LC001972 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ======== |
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| 55 | 55 | | |
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| 56 | 56 | | |
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| 57 | 57 | | LC001972 - Page 3 of 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 59 | 59 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 60 | 60 | | OF |
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| 61 | 61 | | A N A C T |
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| 62 | 62 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS--COST |
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| 63 | 63 | | *** |
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| 64 | 64 | | This act would provide that fees for costs charged for search, retrieval or copying of public 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | records shall be waived for members of the general assembly who certify that they are acting in 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | their official capacity. 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 4 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ======== |
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| 69 | 69 | | LC001972 |
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| 70 | 70 | | ======== |
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| 71 | 71 | | |
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