CA city charging $13 for page 1 and $3 for each additional page of electronic copies

[The Straight Story]

Enough With the Copy Fees, Class Says


SACRAMENTO (CN) - Strangled by the parlous state of California's budget, counties are jacking up fees for copies of public records, but Sacramento County has gone way too far, charging $13 for page 1 and $3 for each additional page of electronic copies, which violates state law, a research group says in a class action.

California Public Records Research sued Sacramento County and its Clerk-Recorder Craig Kramer, in Superior Court.

The L.A.-based plaintiff says it "is engaged in the business, inter alia, of locating and retrieving public records," and that the fees charged in Sacramento violate the state's Public Records Act, which "mandates that fees for copies of public records shall be limited to the direct costs of duplication."

But Sacramento County charges $13 for the first page of a digitized document and $3 for each subsequent page, and $3 for the first page of a paper copy, and $1 for each subsequent page, and that's too much, according to the complaint.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/12/01/41850.htm

[HopeHoops]

1. That's one hell of a mark-up!

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. They do it to promote secrecy. n/t

[DCKit]

3. Not just secrecy, but control.

Why not put the files on a free-to-access website?