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Mount Vernon adopts fee schedule for body-worn camera records
Summary
The City Council adopted Resolution 10-71 establishing a fee schedule and deposit practice for requests for body-worn camera records, aiming to recover staff costs under state law. Council opened and closed a public hearing with no speakers before approving the resolution.
The Mount Vernon City Council on May 14 adopted Resolution 10-71, which sets a fee schedule to recover city costs for processing public records requests for body-worn camera footage.
City Attorney Kevin Robertson told council the new fee schedule implements statutory requirements the legislature placed on law enforcement and on public-records processing. Robertson said the measure allows the city to estimate actual costs, collect a 10% deposit and recover processing expenses when responding to requests.
On statutory limits for redaction technology, Robertson said the city must use the “least expensive commercially available technology to redact or pixelate,” language consistent with the state requirements he discussed. The council held a public hearing on the resolution; no members of the public spoke. After the hearing council approved the resolution in open session.
Robertson noted that responding to body-worn camera requests creates a new volume of public records work and that adopting a fee schedule is a way to recoup some of that unfunded workload. The resolution delegates administrative steps for estimating costs and collecting deposits to city staff in accordance with state law.
