Bill regulating records fees questioned

Friday, March 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

BC-NV--Records-Fees,390

Representatives of a committee of state officials that worked on AB214 also urged action on the measure, along with some government and press representatives.

Kent Lauer, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, told the Assembly Government Affairs Committee on Thursday that the public overwhelmingly wants access to government records without excessive charges.

Charges of $1 a page for copies of some government documents are outrageous, he added.

The Legislature needs to pass the bill because state law doesn't address the issue of fees for public records, leading to sometimes inconsistent and excessive costs for providing the information, Lauer said.

The bill would allow governments to provide copies for free if it did so consistently.

The Legislature has failed twice, in 1993 and 1995, to establish a policy on the cost of public records or to update the law to reflect the storage and access of information via new technology.

Concerns about the bill have come in the past from some local governments that raise extra revenue from the charges for copying public records.

But Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover told the committee the bill is the best one dealing with the issue he has seen. The bill would require governments to evaluate and regulate what and when they charge for documents, he said.

Bob Hatfield, executive director of the Nevada Association of Counties, said there are issues that need to be resolved, however, including whether there should be a higher charge for the commercial use of public records.

"It's just a big mess for us too, folks," he said. "If it wasn't a problem, we wouldn't be here."

State Archivist Guy Rocha, who worked on the bill, urged the committee to act.

"We've waited much too long," he said. "Let's come away with something this session."

Government Affairs Chairman Doug Bache, D-Las Vegas, said the committee will act on the bill. He said he will appoint a subcommittee to work out the unresolved issues and to bring the measure back for a vote.