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Belton council waives $88.49 fee for local reporter's records request
Summary
The City Council voted to waive an $88.49 charge for a public-records request filed by Allen Edmonds of the Northcast Herald, citing the statutory public-interest exception in Missouri's Sunshine Law.
Allen Edmonds, owner and editor of the Northcast Herald, asked the Belton City Council on a public meeting night to waive an $88.49 fee charged to fulfill a Sunshine Law public-records request. Council members voted by voice to grant the waiver, saying the request satisfied the statute's public-interest standard.
Edmonds said he sought emails exchanged between city staff and the Cass County sheriff’s office to resolve an apparent discrepancy between statements made in public meetings and statements by the outside agency. "This email will put that to rest," Edmonds said, adding the records request "will . . . contribute significantly to public understanding of that particular issue."
The council discussed the legal standard for fee waivers under state law. A city attorney referenced Missouri Revised Statutes section 610.026 as the statutory source that permits governmental bodies to charge for public-record production and to waive fees where the request is "likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the public governmental body and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." Council members asked whether approving the waiver would create a precedent; several said waivers should continue to be decided case by case.
A motion to waive the fees for Edmonds’ Aug. 11 request was made, seconded and approved in a voice vote with no opposed recorded. The council did not record an individual roll-call vote on the fee-waiver motion.
By granting the waiver, the council authorized city staff to provide the requested electronic records without charging Edmonds the $88.49 production fee. City staff earlier had provided Edmonds an itemized estimate of the charge that included IT time to search and produce files and clerk time to redact any nonpublic information.
Council members and city staff emphasized the waiver applies to this specific request and reiterated that future requests would be considered individually; the statute explicitly excludes waiving fees for requests that are "primarily for a commercial interest of the requester."
