Public Records Requests

Public Records Requests

Pursuant to Oregon Revised Statutes, every person has a right to inspect any nonexempt public record. (See Oregon Revised Statute, Public and Private Records; Public Reports and Meetings, Chapter 192 for definitions of exempt public records.)

Public record means any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business that is prepared, owned, used, or retained by a public body regardless of physical form or characteristics, including, but not limited to, handwriting, typewriting, printing, photographing, and every means of recording, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, files, facsimiles, or electronic recordings.

Inspection and copying of a public record shall be done during regular business hours at the office where the record is located, or another facility designated by the college. College records shall not leave college premises for the purposes of public record disclosure. The college may directly supervise the inspection or copying of college records, may list records inspected or copied by or at the request of a requestor, and may contemporaneously copy for the college's own purposes records inspected or copied by or at the request of the requestor. The college may provide a copy of a record in lieu of the original to protect the original record. The college may provide a redacted copy in lieu of an original record in order to delete exempt material.

The college may charge a reasonable amount, including administrative costs, for the cost to locate and reproduce public records.

How to Request a Public Record from Lane Community College

There are two types of public records requests:

Informal Requests

The first type of public records request is one that is verbally submitted by the requesting party for records that are incidental, readily accessible or reproducible at negligible cost, and are typically available for general public distribution at no cost.

Written Requests

All other public records requests must be submitted in writing and will be granted or denied in accordance with Oregon Public Records Law.

Each request must describe the records being sought with sufficient specificity to permit a college staff person who is familiar with the subject matter to locate the record in a reasonable period of time.

1. Requesting parties shall pay a flat fee of $25 (twenty-five dollars) at the time of submitting their public records request to the college. Any overpayments to the college by the requesting party will be promptly refunded after the nonexempt public records are disclosed to the requesting party. The fee must accompany the Public Record(s) Request Form. Mail request form and deposit to: Lane Community College, Public Information Officer, 4000 E. 30th Ave., Eugene, OR 97405.
2. The College requires that the requesting party make payment to the College for the balance of the reasonable costs over and above the $25 fee prior to the release of the public records (i.e., public records will be made available to the requesting party only upon payment in full to the college prior to release/disclosure of the records). These reasonable costs shall include, but are not limited to: actual personnel costs; reproduction costs; delivery expenses; and attorney's fees, if any, for reviewing, redacting or segregating the public records into exempt and nonexempt records.
3. Pursuant to ORS 192.440, the college shall provide the requesting party with an estimate, in writing, if the public records request is expected to exceed $25.00. After receiving the estimate, the requesting party shall notify the college whether it wants the college to proceed with making the public records available.
4. The requesting party shall be charged at the rate(s) established below, unless the records request qualifies for a fee reduction or waiver under ORS 192.440:
   1. If the public records request requires a nominal amount of staff time (less than 30 minutes, which includes searching, locating, retrieving, copying, delivering and re-filing the documents), copies shall be made at no charge, unless the number of copies requested exceeds 10 pages.
   2. If the public records request requires only a nominal amount of staff time (less than 30 minutes), but the number of copies exceeds 10 pages, then the requestor shall be charged for the actual cost of staff time, including fringe benefits, plus copying/delivering charges and attorney's fees. Copying charges shall be at the rate of $0.10 (ten cents) per page.
   3. Records that require more than a nominal amount of staff time (30 minutes or more) will be provided to the requesting party for the actual cost of staff time, including fringe benefits, plus copying/delivery charges. Copying charges shall be at the rate of $0.10 (ten cents) per page. Personnel costs shall be computed on the basis of quarter hours, rounded up, for time expended by college staff and/or the college attorney.
5. Waiver of Fees. The fee may be waived or reduced if the furnishing of the copies is determined by the college to be in the public's best interest as set forth in ORS 192.440(4).
6. The college may charge for search time even if the custodian of the record fails to locate any records in response to the request, or even if the records located are subsequently determined to be exempt from disclosure.
7. In most cases, the college will respond to the request for public records within 21 working days. While the college will make every attempt to respond to the request within this timeframe, requests will not be allowed to interfere with the operations of the college or the regular discharge of the custodian's duties.