Senate committee hears debate on HB100 to standardize public records fees, including $25 hourly cap and $20 filing fee

Representative Bill Mercer, sponsor of House Bill 100, told the Senate State Administration Committee that the bill would standardize how executive-branch agencies charge for fulfilling public information requests and discourage overly broad requests that impose heavy staff costs. “We don't wanna do anything to burden the right to know,” Mercer said, but added that the bill seeks consistency in how costs are shared between requesters and agencies.

Officials from the Department of Administration and executive-branch agencies testified in support, describing a centralized intake and review process the administration has set up since 2021. “When we came into office in 2021, there was no standard process,” Director Misty Ann Giles said, describing a small centralized team and a new portal intended to make it easier for requesters to locate records. Don Harris, chief legal counsel for the Department of Administration, explained the intake workflow: the office…