PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- COST, the official text

S2484 2026 -- S 2484 ======== LC003299 ======== STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ A N A C T RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- COST Introduced By: Senators E Morgan, Rogers, Ciccone, de la Cruz, Paolino, Raptakis, Appollonio, DiPalma, LaMountain, and Tikoian Date Introduced: February 06, 2026 Referred To: Senate Judiciary It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Section 38-2-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 38-2 entitled Access to Public 2 Records is hereby amended to read as follows: 3 38-2-4. Cost. 4 (a) Subject to the provisions of § 38-2-3, a public body must allow copies to be made or 5 provide copies of public records. The cost per copied page of written documents provided to the 6 public shall not exceed fifteen cents ($.15) per page for documents copyable on common business 7 or legal size paper. A public body may not charge more than the reasonable actual cost for providing 8 electronic records or retrieving records from storage where the public body is assessed a retrieval 9 fee. 10 (b) A reasonable charge may be made for the search or retrieval of documents. Hourly costs 11 for a search and retrieval shall not exceed fifteen dollars ($15.00) per hour and no costs shall be 12 charged for the first hour of a search or retrieval. For the purposes of this subsection, multiple 13 requests from any person or entity to the same public body within a thirty (30) day time period shall 14 be considered one request. 15 (c) Copies of documents shall be provided and the search and retrieval of documents 16 accomplished within a reasonable time after a request. A public body upon request, shall provide 17 an estimate of the costs of a request for documents prior to providing copies. 18 (d) Upon request, the public body shall provide a detailed itemization of the costs charged 19 for search and retrieval. 1 (e) A court may reduce or waive the fees for costs charged for search or retrieval if it 2 determines that the information requested is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute 3 significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not 4 primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. 5 (f) The fees for costs charged for search, retrieval or copying shall be waived for members 6 of the general assembly who certify that they are acting in their official capacity and require the 7 copies for the discharge of their legislative duties. 8 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. ======== LC003299 ======== LC003299 - Page 2 of 3 EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF A N A C T RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- COST *** 1 This act would provide that fees for costs charged for search, retrieval or copying of public 2 records shall be waived for members of the general assembly who certify that they are acting in 3 their official capacity. 4 This act would take effect upon passage. ======== LC003299 ======== LC003299 - Page 3 of 3