§ 10-621. Fees

   (a) Reasonable fee defined. -- In this section, "reasonable fee" means a fee bearing a reasonable relationship to the recovery of actual costs incurred by a governmental unit.

(b) Charging of reasonable fee. -- Subject to the limitations in this section, the official custodian may charge an applicant a reasonable fee for the search for, preparation of, and reproduction of a public record.

(c) Limitation on search and preparation fees. -- The official custodian may not charge a fee for the first 2 hours that are needed to search for a public record and prepare it for inspection.

(d) Limitation on reproduction fees. --

   (1) If another law sets a fee for a copy, electronic copy, printout, or photograph of a public record, that law applies.

   (2) The official custodian otherwise may charge any reasonable fee for making or supervising the making of a copy, electronic copy, printout, or photograph of a public record.

   (3) The official custodian may charge for the cost of providing facilities for the reproduction of the public record if the custodian did not have the facilities.

(e) Waiver. -- The official custodian may waive a fee under this section if:

   (1) the applicant asks for a waiver; and

   (2) after consideration of the ability of the applicant to pay the fee and other relevant factors, the official custodian determines that the waiver would be in the public interest.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 76A, § 4; 1984, ch. 284, § 1; 2002, ch. 403; 2011, ch. 536.