Henderson will continue charging public for some records requests
The Henderson City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to keep charging the public for staff time if a request for records takes more than 10 hours to fulfill.
Council members did not discuss the measure, which takes effect Friday. Councilwoman Michelle Romero was absent.
Critics have argued that a recent update to state law prohibits such charges.
This year, lawmakers removed a provision in the Nevada Public Records Act that allowed governments to charge for “extraordinary use” of staff time, leaving the ability to charge for the “actual cost” of producing records. The revised city ordinance removes the phrase “extraordinary use” but allows the city to charge for the “actual cost” of personnel time if a request requires more than 10 hours to fulfill. It also eliminates a $35-per-hour cap for staff time in fulfilling requests.
Maggie McLetchie, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s outside legal counsel, has argued that Henderson’s amended ordinance ignores the state law’s definition of “actual cost.”
The law says actual cost includes things such as ink, toner, paper and postage, but specifically does not include costs that the agency would face regardless of whether a public records request had been filed.
Legislative Counsel Bureau lawyer Asher Killian wrote in a letter to Assemblyman Edgar Flores, D-Las Vegas, that the law still allows government agencies to charge public records requesters for the actual costs they incur in fulfilling requests.
Henderson insists it’s committed to transparency, having called the 10 free hours of research “unprecedented among government entities.” A city spokeswoman has said fees may be waived under certain circumstances.
Also, the city recently brought on a public records officer to oversee requests.
The Review-Journal, among others, advocated during the 2019 legislative session to bolster the state’s public records law. Nevada’s updated public records law went into effect Oct. 1.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.
