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Public Records Law
How to use the Public Records Law
- What is a public record?
The term includes paper records, of course. Correspondence,
reports,
minutes of meetings, hand written notes, phone messages, and so forth.
But it also includes maps, photographs, audio and video recordings,
e-mail, databases, and spread sheets created or received by a government
agency in the course of doing public business.
- How do you know which ones are public and which ones
aren't?
Under the state Public Records Law, G.S. 132, every record is public
unless
there's another law that says it isn't. And North Carolina courts have
said repeatedly that the state public records law should be construed
liberally. So, until you know better, you should assume that any
record you want is a public record.
- Do the media have more
rights to public
records than citizens?
No, and we don't want any. Everybody has the right to examine
and
obtain copies of almost all public records. And you're not required to
say why you want the record or what you plan to do with it either.
- Whom should you ask for a public record?
The custodian of a record - generally, the public official in charge of
the office where the records are located - is the person obligated by law
to provide access and copies. That's usually the person to ask. But, as
discussed below, you sometimes may
opt to ask the agency's public information officer.
- Can they make you go through its public
information officer?
Absolutely not. If the custodian wants to consult her agency's
PR
person or anybody else, fine. But the custodian is still answerable to
you for your request. Sometimes, for your own reasons, you actually may
prefer to route the request through the PIO, the agency counsel, or
someone else who will get you want you want. But that's your option, not
theirs. The agency cannot interpose any official as a gatekeeper who
would stand between you and the custodian of the record you seek.
- Can an agency require you to put a record request
in writing?
In some cases, they can. Even where written requests are not
required, however, it sometimes is a good idea to put them in
writing.
If it is a complicated request covering, for example, a range of
documents created over a particular time span, addressing specific subjects,
or received or created by specific individuals, it might be better to
put the request in writing.
In two situations, an agency can insist on a written request. A
public
agency may require that a request for a copy of computer databases be
submitted in writing, and anyone seeking copies of a geographical
information system may be required to agree in writing that he or she
will not use the record for commercial purposes.
- How quickly must the custodian produce the
record?
The custodian must allow you to examine it "at reasonable times
and
under reasonable supervision" and, if requested, must provide copies "as
promptly as possible." What do "reasonable" and "promptly"
mean?
In most cases, that means today. But those words can mean
tomorrow, or next week. It depends on how much time it takes to
assemble the records you want. Did you ask for the director's expense
reports for January? Or is your request more complicated?
Reasonable can depend on what's going on at the agency. Are the
employees packing up to move to a new office? Are they short-handed and
trying to respond to an emergency? In that situation, the law does not
require the agency to stop what it's doing and produce the record you
want. On the other hand, "reasonable" does not mean whenever they get
around to it. You're not asking them for a favor; you're asking them to
do their job.
- Can you get the information the way you want
it, a paper record or
an electronic record?
If they can give it to you either way, the answer is yes. The
law says
they must make us a copy "In any and all media in which the public
agency is capable of providing them."
- How much can a public agency lawfully charge?
The law requires them to provide copies for "free or at minimal
cost."
In a few instances, copy fees are specified by law. Two examples:
Clerks of Superior Court are permitted by law to charge $1 for the first
page and 25 cents a page for additional pages. But absent a specific
law, the fee cannot exceed "the actual cost of reproducing the public
record or public information." You don't have to pay an "overhead"
charge. And agencies can't just make up a fee -- Oh, I think 25
cents a page sounds about right -- and make you pay. It's against the
law.
The cost of a database ranges from free to several hundred dollars,
depending on how much programming you ask the agency to do.
- When public and private records have been
commingled, who pays to
separate them?
The government.
What you should do if you are unlawfully denied access
to a public record.
- First, talk to them.
- Ask them to cite the law that trumps G.S 132.
Agencies may offer all sorts of reasons for not releasing a
public record. If you are denied, you'll want to ask for their
authority. Say to them:
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"North Carolina's public records law, Chapter 132 of the General Statutes,
provides for public inspection and copying of most records made or received
by state or local governments and their subdivisions, regardless of the
physical form of the record. If you contend that the document I have asked
for is not a public record, please advise me of the specific statutory
authority for that position."
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To deny access to the
record you have requested, they are going to have to have a law that
takes the record out of the public domain, a law that trumps G.S. 132.
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