(A) The city shall not restrict the use of personal devices, including but not limited to scanners, cameras, computers, and copiers, by a requester wishing to make his or her own copy of an open record. The city may, however, take appropriate steps to ensure that duplication by a requester will not damage or alter the original records.
(B) The city shall not restrict the ability of any person to make handwritten notes while inspecting an open record.
(C) The city shall provide copies of open records used for commercial or noncommercial purposes in standard hard copy format where the city currently maintains the records in hard copy format. The city is not required to convert hard copy format records to electronic formats but may do so at its discretion. If the open records are maintained in electronic format, the requester may designate in which format, hard copy or electronic, the records shall be reproduced.
(D) The city shall impose no fee for inspection of open records. Upon inspection, the requestor shall be charged the fees described in this section if he or she requests copies.
(E) The city shall notify a requester in advance if the anticipated costs of reproduction exceed a stipulated amount or if the anticipated costs of reproduction will exceed $25.
(F) The city shall not recover as part of its actual costs of reproduction any charge assessed by a private contractor or outside entity retained to archive, manage, recover, or retrieve city records or otherwise assist in fulfilling a request.
(G) Upon agreement with the requester, the city shall arrange with an outside contractor, at the most economical rate available, to reproduce records which it lacks duplication equipment to reproduce itself (example: as oversized maps, photo quality visual images) and may recover the actual charge assessed by the outside contractor.
(H) Absent a statute authorizing a specific fee relating to a particular type of record, the city shall reproduce hard copy open records requested for a noncommercial use in a standard 8-1/2 x 11-inch format for a fee of $.10 per page. No fee shall be imposed for staff time, including staff time expended in retrieving, reviewing, redacting, or reproducing the record.
(I) The city shall provide copies of electronic records requested for noncommercial use in the records’ native electronic format, or an electronic format mutually agreed upon but not routinely maintained, for a fee based on the actual cost of the medium on which the records are copied and, in the case of a nonroutine format, any mutually agreed upon conversion costs. Records requested in electronic format shall be provided on a CD for a fee of $.20 per CD. The city shall impose no fee for direct electronic transmission of open records from the city to the requester, there being no associated costs. In no case shall the city impede access to or searchability of electronic records.
(J) If the city and the requester are unable to reach an agreement on an electronic format, the city shall convert the electronic records to a flat file electronic American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), the standard electronic format established by KRS 61.874(2)(b). The city shall not recover any cost associated with conversion to this format.
(K) The city shall reproduce open records requested for commercial use (“any use by which the user expects a profit either through commission, salary, or fee”) using the same factors found in divisions (H), (I) and (J) of this section, but may, in addition, recover staff costs incurred in connection with retrieval, review, redaction, and reproduction. The city may ask whether the requester intends to use the open records for a commercial purpose. If the requester confirms that the records will be used for a commercial purpose, the city may require the requester to submit a certified statement of the commercial purpose for which the records will be used. The city may also require the requester to enter into a contract for the stated commercial purpose for a specified fee. Any misrepresentation of or deviation from, the requester’s stated commercial or noncommercial purpose may be actionable by the city as provided in KRS 61.874(5) and 61.8745.
(1984 Code, § 37.06) (Ord. O-14-19, passed 6-11-2019)
Statutory reference:
Similar provisions, see KRS 61.872(3)(a) and (b), 61.874(1), (2)(a), (3), (4), (4)(c)