Public Records Requests

TILLAMOOK PUD PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST PROCEDURE 

Requests for public records shall be made in writing and shall be directed to the Public Records Custodian.

Requests maybe submitted online by completing the electronic form below or can be printed, completed and mailed to P.O. Box 433, Tillamook, OR  97141.

 

Response to request for public records

The PUD shall acknowledge receipt of a written public records request within 5 business days and indicate whether the PUD is the custodian of some or all of the requested records, inform the requester that the PUD is not the custodian of the requested records, or notify the requester that the public body is unsure whether it is the custodian of the records.

No later than 10 business days after acknowledging receipt of a public records request, the PUD shall “complete” its response or provide a written statement that the utility is still processing the request and a reasonable estimated date by which the PUD expects to “complete” its response. To “complete” a response means the PUD has done one of the following: (a) provided access to or copies of all non-exempt requested records, or explained where the records are already publicly available; (b) asserted any exemptions to disclosure; (c) complied with ORS 192.338 by separating exempt from non-exempt material and making non-exempt material available; (d) provided a written statement that the PUD is not the custodian of records; (e) provided a statement that federal or state law prohibits the PUD from acknowledging whether any requested record exists; or (f) included a statement that the requester may seek review of the PUD’s decision that one or more of the records are exempt from disclosure.

The PUD may request additional information or clarification from the requestor for the purpose of expediting the PUD’s response to the request, and the timeline for responding to a request shall be suspended until the utility receives a response from the requester. If the requester fails to respond within 60 days to a good faith request from the PUD for information or clarification, the PUD shall close the request.

Further, if the PUD informs the requestor that a fee is due to process the request, the timeline for responding shall be suspended until the utility receives payment. If the requester fails to pay the fee within 60 days of the date on which the PUD informed the requester of the fee, or fails to pay the fee within 60 days of the date on which the PUD informed the requester of the denial of a fee waiver, the PUD shall close the request.

The time periods established in this policy shall not apply if compliance would be impracticable because: (a) the staff or volunteers necessary to complete a response to the public records request are unavailable; (b) compliance would demonstrably impede the public body’s ability to perform other necessary services; or (c) of the volume of public records requests being simultaneously processed by the public body.  For purposes of this section, staff members or volunteers who are on leave or are not scheduled to work are considered to be unavailable. If the PUD cannot comply with the time periods established by in this section the PUD shall, as soon as practicable and without unreasonable delay, acknowledge a public records request and complete the response to the request.

PUD records shall be released only under the condition that the records are public records as defined in ORS 192.311 and are not exempt from disclosure under Oregon’s public records laws, including ORS 192.345 to ORS 192.355.  If there is a question as to whether the records requested are not clearly within the definition of “public record,” or are exempt from disclosure, the request will be referred to the PUD’s attorney for review and recommendation.  If a document does contain exempt information, a copy, in lieu of the original, will be provided for inspection with the exempt information blanked out.

The PUD shall not create any new documents or customize any existing documents in response to a public records request.

Public records approved for release by the General Manager may be inspected in the PUD offices during regular business hours.

Public Records Fee Schedule

In order to recover the PUD’s costs for responding to public records requests, the PUD adopts the following fee schedule:

Copies of Public Records:  Copies of public records shall be $.25 cents per copy for standard, single-sided, letter size copies.

Copies of Sound Recordings:  Copies of sound recordings shall be $5.00, $2.00 if a blank tape of the same length is provided.

Copies of Maps, Photographs, and Other Nonstandard Documents:  Charges for copying maps or other nonstandard size documents shall be charged in accordance with the actual costs incurred by the PUD.

Research Fees:  If a request for public records requires PUD personnel to spend more than 30 minutes compiling a record to meet the person’s request, the minimum fee shall be $10.00 per half hour or portion of a half hour unit, with a minimum charge for one half hour.  Such calculations shall include time spent by staff in locating the requested records, reviewing the records in order to delete exempt material, supervising the inspection of original documents, and copying the records.

Attorney Fees:  Copies of public records that require attorney time, over one-half hour, for segregation of exempt from non-exempt material will be provided at the PUD’s actual cost for attorney time, copying, and delivery charges.

Additional Charges:  If a request is of such magnitude and nature that compliance would disrupt the PUD’s normal operation, the PUD may impose such additional charges as are necessary to reimburse the PUD for its actual costs of producing records.

The General Manager shall estimate the total amount of time required to respond to the records request, and the person making the request shall make payment for the estimated cost of the search and copying of the records in advance.  If the actual time and costs are less than estimated, the excess money shall be refunded to the person requesting the records.  If the actual costs and time are in excess of the estimated time, the difference shall be paid by the person requesting the records at the time the records are produced.

The PUD shall not charge a fee greater than $25.00 for responding to a public records request unless the PUD first provides the requestor with a written notification of the estimated amount of the fee and the requestor confirms that the requestor wants the PUD to proceed with making the public records available.

The General Manager may furnish copies of public records without charge or at a substantially reduced fee if it is determined that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest because making the public record available primarily benefits the public.

Public Records Request Printable Form

Tillamook PUD Public Records Request Form

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