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Committee advances bill to allow charging nonresidents for public-records requests
Summary
House Bill 253 would change public-records (FOIA) processing by allowing state agencies to charge nonresidents for copies and staff time beyond existing free allotments for Idaho residents; committee voted to send the bill to the House floor with a due‑pass recommendation.
Senator Furnas presented House Bill 253 as a revision to the state’s public‑records response policy (referred to in testimony as FOIA requests). He said the bill separates costs and benefits for Idaho residents and nonresidents: residents would continue to receive up to 100 pages of copies and two hours of labor at no charge, while nonresidents could be charged for copies and staff time up to actual agency cost. The bill also would extend the time to respond to nonresident requests from three days to 30 days (45 days if a warrant is involved), according to the sponsor’s description.
Senator Furnas said the change is intended to reduce the burden on agency staff caused by high volumes of out‑of‑state media requests, and stressed the bill does not deny nonresidents access to records but allows cost recovery.
One member of the public, Bob Narabout, testified in support and cited the state’s workload during an animal‑disease response when a national outlet’s records requests strained staff resources. No members of the public testified in opposition during this meeting.
Representative Mickelson moved to send House Bill 253 to the House floor with a due‑pass recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.
