Addressing Public Records Access


My Commission colleagues and I have discussed the possibility of adopting a uniform countywide policy with regard to charges for public records. For example, we could establish a policy under which the County would not charge for the cost of the records or staff time in locating or preparing those records (i.e. redacting non-public information), up to a threshold of a certain dollar amount or number of hours.

It would also be nice to have a uniform, countywide public records request document, if we can create one that satisfies the requirements of all Ada County departments.

When the issue of a countywide public records policy was raised at a meeting of all of Ada County’s elected officials, Sheriff Gary Raney expressed some concern about police records being covered under the same policy as all other public records. I have asked Sheriff Raney to work with me on creating a policy that meets the needs of taxpayers and the County, as well as his office.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for language you would like to see included in an Ada County public records policy, please let me know!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *