From the Hotline

By Teri Henning
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: How much can an agency charge for copies of public records?

A: In a decision dated April 19, 2005, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that $0.25 per page is a reasonable fee under the Amended Right to Know Law. See Weiss v. Williamsport Area School Dist., 2005 WL 889723 (Pa. Cmwlth. April 19, 2005). Although the Amended Act requires that such fees be "based on prevailing fees for comparable duplication services provided by local business entities," the court found that it was appropriate to consider what other government agencies were charging for such copying. It refused to consider the fees charged by actual duplication businesses, such as Kinko's.

In ruling that the $0.25 fee was reasonable, the court noted that the School District "did not impose any charge for retrieval of the documents." As PNA members already know, the law places strict limits on any such "additional" charges, and specifically prohibits any fees relating to "an agency's review of a record to determine whether the record is a public record."

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