Section 0180-34-.07 - FEES AND PROCEDURES FOR BILLING AND PAYMENT(1) Fees for copies of public records shall not be used to hinder access to public records.(2) Prior to producing copies of records, a Records Custodian or the PRRC shall provide a Requestor with an itemized estimate of the fees and charges, to the extent possible.(3) Payment in advance is required for all requests for copies of records.(4) Fees for copies are as follows:(a) 15 cents ($0.15) per page for 8 1/2" x 11" (letter) or 8 1/2" x 14" (legal) black and white copies.(b) 50 cents ($0.50) per page for 8 1/2" x 11" (letter) or 8 1/2" x 14" (legal) color copies.(c) No fees for copies shall be charged for requests of public records up to ten (10) pages in length.(5) In addition to the copy fees described in paragraph (4) above, labor charges for the time, in hours, to produce copies of records shall be imposed whenever the time exceeds one (1) hour. Labor charges shall be calculated by multiplying the base hourly wage rate of each employee by the time each employee spends in identifying, locating, and copying the records, minus the first hour of the most highly paid employee.(6) At the Department's discretion, an outside copying vendor may be used to make copies of the requested records. If so, an employee of the Department shall transport the records to and from the vendor and maintain custody of the records at all times. The Requestor shall pay the actual costs assessed by the vendor and any applicable labor charges as provided in paragraph (5) above.(7) Payment is to be made by cashier's check or money order made payable to the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions.(8) The Department may provide the requested public record(s) in an electronic format.(9) The Department will not aggregate records requests when more than four (4) requests are received within a calendar month, either from a single individual or a group of individuals deemed working in concert and adopts the "Frequent and Multiple Request Policy" and any successor policy developed by the Office of Open Records Counsel.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0180-34-.07
Original rules filed September 30, 2019; effective 12/29/2019.Authority: T.C.A. §§ 10-7-503 and 45-1-107(h).