Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO89-32 Page: 3 of 4
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Mr. C. Ed Davis
March 23, 1989
Page 3
Section 9(a) of the Open Records Act provides:
The cost to any person recruesting
noncertified ..p.hotorohic _reproductions of
public records comprised Qf paaes up to legal
size shall not be excessive. The State Board
of Control shall from time to time determine
the actual cost of standard size reproduc-
tions and shall periodically publish these
cost figures for use by agencies in
determining charges to be made pursuant to
this Act. The cost of obtaining a standard
or legal size photographic reproduction
shall be in an -amount that reasonably
includes all costs related to reproducing the
record. including_ costs of materials, .labor,
and verhead unless the request is for 50
pages or less of readily available
information. (Emphasis added.)
The intent of section 9(a) is clear: the TEC may
charge only an amount that includes "all costs related to
reproducing the record." It requires that a "technical"
assessment of the costs serve as the basis of the cost to
the requestor. Section 9 gives a governmental body the
authority to recoup only its actual costs in renroducing
public records, not the cumulative costs of producing or
creating records that are essential to the commission's
efficient operation. It does not require a member of the
public requesting information under the Open Records Act to
bear costs that the governmental body incurs in fulfillment
of its statutory responsibilities other than those directly
related to the reproduction of public records. Nor does it
authorize the commission to capture the prospective costs of
maintaining such records. The Open Records Act does not
contemplate that governmental bodies will reap a profit in
the collection of costs pursuant to section 9. See Open
Records Decision No. 489 (1988).
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO89-32, text, March 23, 1989; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth276321/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.