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Bill to expand free open‑records time draws strong opposition from city and county officials
Summary
Representative Jim Casper proposed giving North Dakota residents one free open‑records request per year up to 20 hours of staff time. City, county and law‑enforcement witnesses warned the change would shift costs to local taxpayers, create staffing problems and invite frivolous or broad requests.
Representative Jim Casper introduced House Bill 13‑06 to allow each North Dakota resident one open‑records request per year that would be fulfilled up to 20 hours free of charge by public entities.
“House Bill 13‑06…any constituent can request one open record per year free of charge up to 20 hours of agency time,” Casper told the committee after presenting an amendment that reduced the free time from an earlier draft’s 40 hours.
Casper said the policy is intended to reduce the financial burden on citizens seeking public records; the bill retains existing statutory per‑page and per‑hour charges beyond the free hours. “Let’s give our constituents a little more free service from the state and the employees and the departments,” he said.
City and county officials, school administrators and recorders testified in opposition or expressed…
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