Douglas County School Board proposes public records fees that may be against state law
The Douglas County School Board is proposing to charge the public for records requests at a rate which could be deemed illegal by Nevada state law.
By Nevada law, entities may not charge more than the actual cost incurred by printing, which typically means paper, ink, toner, etc.
However, the board is proposing to begin charging a fee of $0.50 per page. The district’s recently hired attorney Joey Gilbert has said multiple times that there are a number of records requests coming into the district, along with “frivolous lawsuits and complaints,” which are driving up costs.
However, it should be noted that prior to Gilbert’s hiring, the superintendent’s office handled all public records requests, which is typical for other local school districts. This came at no additional cost, as it was part of the duties of the office.
When Gilbert was hired, the board voted to remove the ability of the superintendent’s office to handle public records requests, instead giving them to Gilbert, who charges $325 per hour.
Since that time, Gilbert has racked up costs of over $170,000, with a large percentage of it being dedicated towards handling public records requests and open meeting law violations.
Douglas’s proposed fee is exorbitant compared to other local entities. The Carson City School District and Washoe County School District make no mention of public records request fees, only transcript and student fees.
Local governments, however, do implement fees, such as Carson City, Washoe County, the City of Reno and others.
These typically range from $0.04 to $0.05 per printed page, which appears to be more in line with the actual cost of paper and toner.
It should be noted that the government entity of Douglas County does not implement a standard fee, and only requires one if the work is deemed to be excessive and takes longer than a half hour to complete the request.
There are some entities that charge higher rates, such as the Reno Municipal Court which charges $0.50 per page for case histories and depositions, but only for cases filed before April 2013; any cases afterwards can be obtained online for free.
When asked how the $0.50 actual cost fee was determined, as well as pointing out the state law’s language, the board did not respond to a request for comment.