MUS Public Records Requests

MONTANA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS RESPONSE GUIDELINES AND FEE SCHEDULE

PDF Version of Public Records Request Response Guidelines


I. Purpose

To provide guidance and a consistent response to public records requests, the Montana University System has adopted these guidelines.

Nothing herein will override a right to privacy or matters of individual or public safety provided by the Montana Constitution, statutes, and rules addressing confidentiality, or other rulings addressing privacy and safety protections.

II. Scope

These guidelines will guide the response to public records requests on all campuses of the Montana University System.

Ill. Processing Public Records Requests

A. All public records requests made as a "Freedom of Information Request (FOIA)" or "Right-to Know Request" must be in writing and from a person with a
     physical address. Names of individuals requesting public records are public information. The Office of the Commissioner and each campus will identify the
     office to which these requests are sent for review.

B. Most public records requests require legal review to determine if there are matters of individual privacy contained in the records and to determine whether
     the records requested constitute public records under the Montana Constitution and related statutes. The nature of the request and the volume of work will
     be factors in deciding whether to charge legal fees. Legal Counsel may add a disclaimer to the release of information.

C. Certain costs associated with fulfilling public records requests may be charged to the requestor pursuant to sections 2-6-102(2) and 2-6-110(2). MCA. These
     charges include, but are not limited to:

a. custom computer programming;

b. research and analysis;

c. copying of electronic or paper records;

d. e-mail restores;

e. services required of the Information Technology departments; and

f. legal fees

D. All expenses must be reimbursed based on the actual cost of fulfilling the public records request, not on estimated costs. Payment for records requests must
     be received by the responsible office and the check cleared prior to the release of the information. The requestor must be informed if the fulfillment of the
     request is projected to exceed the estimated costs and must agree in writing to the new estimate before work continues.

IV. Protection of Records

OCHE and the campuses must maintain the integrity of original records. If requested records might be altered, stolen, or are irreplaceable, staff must supervise (no fee associated) the examination and copying of the records by the requestor.

V. Protection of Privacy and Safety OCHE and the campuses will provide access to and/or copying of unprotected Department records.

Records and materials that are constitutionally protected from disclosure are not available to the public (2-6-1 02, MCA). In cases where there is an individual privacy interest that clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure, including legitimate trade secrets (30-14402(4), MCA), records and materials subject to a legal privilege and matters related to individual or public safety, the records containing this information will not be disclosed or will be redacted to remove the protected information.

VI. Covered Charges and Actual Costs

Attachment A contains the fee schedule for public records requests.

Attachment A- Fee Schedule

Photocopying Charges

Per page                                                                                                                                $0.35 (Staff time spent on copying is included in the per-page charge.)

Records recalled from offsite storage                                                                               Actual cost

Staff time to prepare materials for copying                                                                    $15.92 per hour

If the request is for an extraordinarily large volume of printed material,                  Actual cost
copies may be made by Print and Mail Services on campuses

If appropriate, a requesting party may bring a No charge copier, scanner,              No charge
or personal computer onsite to make copies.

Electronic Media Copies

Staff time for copying electronic files                                                                               $15.92 per hour after first half hour¹

Electronic media                                                                                                                   Actual cost

Mainframe and mid-tier processing charges, including processing time,                  Actual cost
transmission time, and report writing charges

Legal Review