Colorado Code § 24-72-205

Copy, printout, or photograph of a public record - imposition of research and retrieval fee
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(1) (a) In all cases in which a person has the right to inspect a
public record, the person may request a copy, printout, or photograph of the record. The
custodian shall furnish a copy, printout, or photograph and may charge a fee determined in
accordance with subsection (5) of this section; except that, when the custodian is the secretary of
state, fees shall be determined and collected pursuant to section 24-21-104 (3), and when the
custodian is the executive director of the department of personnel, fees shall be determined and
collected pursuant to section 24-80-102 (10). Where the fee for a certified copy or other copy,
printout, or photograph of a record is specifically prescribed by law, the specific fee shall apply.
(b) Upon request for records transmission by a person seeking a copy of any public
record, the custodian shall transmit a copy of the record by United States mail, other delivery
service, facsimile, or electronic mail. No transmission fees may be charged to the record
requester for transmitting public records via electronic mail. Within the period specified in
section 24-72-203 (3)(a), the custodian shall notify the record requester that a copy of the record
is available but will only be sent to the requester once the custodian either receives payment or
makes arrangements for receiving payment for all costs associated with records transmission and
for all other fees lawfully allowed, unless recovery of all or any portion of such costs or fees has
been waived by the custodian. Upon either receiving such payment or making arrangements to
receive such payment at a later date, the custodian shall send the record to the requester as soon
as practicable but no more than three business days after receipt of, or making arrangements to
receive, such payment.
(2) If the custodian does not have facilities for making a copy, printout, or photograph of
a record that a person has the right to inspect, the person shall be granted access to the record for
the purpose of making a copy, printout, or photograph. The copy, printout, or photograph shall
be made while the record is in the possession, custody, and control of the custodian thereof and
shall be subject to the supervision of the custodian. When practical, the copy, printout, or
photograph shall be made in the place where the record is kept, but if it is impractical to do so,
the custodian may allow arrangements to be made for the copy, printout, or photograph to be
made at other facilities. If other facilities are necessary, the cost of providing them shall be paid
by the person desiring a copy, printout, or photograph of the record. The custodian may establish
a reasonable schedule of times for making a copy, printout, or photograph and may charge the
same fee for the services rendered in supervising the copying, printing out, or photographing as
the custodian may charge for furnishing a copy, printout, or photograph under subsection (5) of
this section.
(3) If, in response to a specific request, the state or any of its agencies, institutions, or
political subdivisions has performed a manipulation of data so as to generate a record in a form
not used by the state or by said agency, institution, or political subdivision, a reasonable fee may
be charged to the person making the request. Such fee shall not exceed the actual cost of
manipulating the said data and generating the said record in accordance with the request. Persons
making subsequent requests for the same or similar records may be charged a fee not in excess
of the original fee.
(4) If the public record is a result of computer output other than word processing, the fee
for a copy, printout, or photograph thereof may be based on recovery of the actual incremental
costs of providing the electronic services and products together with a reasonable portion of the
costs associated with building and maintaining the information system. Such fee may be reduced
or waived by the custodian if the electronic services and products are to be used for a public
purpose, including public agency program support, nonprofit activities, journalism, and
academic research. Fee reductions and waivers shall be uniformly applied among persons who
are similarly situated.
(5) (a) A custodian may charge a fee not to exceed twenty-five cents per standard page
for a copy of a public record or a fee not to exceed the actual cost of providing a copy, printout,
or photograph of a public record in a format other than a standard page; except that a custodian
shall not charge a per-page fee for providing records in a digital or electronic format.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection (5), an institution, as defined in
section 24-72-202 (1.5), that is the custodian of scholastic achievement data on an individual
person may charge a reasonable fee for a certified transcript of the data.
(6) (a) A custodian may impose a fee in response to a request for the research and
retrieval of public records only if the custodian has, prior to the date of receiving the request,
either posted on the custodian's website or otherwise published a written policy that specifies the
applicable conditions concerning the research and retrieval of public records by the custodian,
including the amount of any current fee. Under any such policy, the custodian shall not impose a
charge for the first hour of time expended in connection with the research and retrieval of public
records. After the first hour of time has been expended, the custodian may charge a fee for the
research and retrieval of public records that shall not exceed thirty dollars per hour.
(b) On July 1, 2019, and by July 1 of every five-year period thereafter, the director of
research of the legislative council appointed pursuant to section 2-3-304 (1) shall adjust the
maximum hourly fee specified in subsection (6)(a) of this section in accordance with the
percentage change over the period in the United States department of labor, bureau of labor
statistics, consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items and all urban
consumers, or its successor index. The director of research shall post the adjusted maximum
hourly fee on the website of the general assembly.
(7) If a custodian of a public record requested pursuant to this part 2 allows members of
the public to pay for any other service or product provided by the custodian with a credit card or
electronic payment, the custodian must allow the requester of the public record to pay any fee or
deposit associated with the request with a credit card or via an electronic payment. The custodian
may require a requester to pay any service charge or fee imposed by the processor of a credit
card or electronic payment.

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