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Council adopts Ordinance 1556 adopting public records fee schedule
Summary
Golden adopted Ordinance 1556 to set a public-records fee schedule consistent with RCW 42.56.120, establishing a $15 initial flat fee for electronic requests and referencing staff time and redaction costs for certain materials such as bodycam footage.
The Golden City Council adopted Ordinance 1556, establishing a public records fee schedule consistent with RCW 42.56.120. The ordinance and fee schedule were recommended by city attorney Quinn Plant to allow the city to recover costs for responding to electronic public-records requests.
Council discussion clarified that the $15 fee is an initial flat charge for many requests; staff explained that some records—particularly video and body-worn camera footage—require additional redaction and processing time and may incur different charges or hourly rates. Council members said the fee is intended to recover staff costs and to deter frivolous or abusive requests, and staff described a new electronic public-records system intended to reduce redaction time.
During the discussion, Police Chief Mike Smith described the time-consuming nature of reviewing and redacting video and police reports and said the new system should reduce processing hours. Council asked about per-page fees and other fee structures; staff noted that some state limits apply and that other fees (for video or extensive redaction) are treated separately.
The ordinance was moved, seconded and put to a vote; the transcript records discussion and a vote but does not provide a roll-call tally by name in every instance. The adoption takes effect as prescribed in the ordinance language and will allow staff to begin charging for certain electronic public-records requests under state law.
