Public Records Request
Banks Fire District #13 fully complies with the Oregon Public Records Law, ORS 192.410-195.505.
- Specificity of Request: In order to facilitate the public’s access to records in the District’s possession, and to avoid unnecessary expenditure of staff time, person requesting access to public records for inspection or copying, or who submit written requests for copies of public records, shall specify the records requested with particularity, furnishing dates, subject matter and other detail to enable District personnel to readily locate the records sought.
- Access: The district shall permit inspection and examination of its non-exempt public records during regular business hours in the District’s offices.
Copies of non‑exempt public records maintained in machine readable or electronic form shall be furnished, if available, in the form requested. If not available in the form requested, such records shall be made available in the form in which they are maintained. ORS 192.440(2).
All requests must be submitted either through the form below or utilizing the PDF form in the Resources/Forms & Documents section of the website.
The district has five business days to acknowledging the receipt of the request. The District then has an additional 10 business days to fulfill the request or issue a written response estimating how long fulfillment will take. The district is not subject to this response time frame if it is awaiting a response from the requester seeking clarification of the inquiry or if the requester has not agreed to pay for the records, provided that the cost if $25 or more. Other considerations that apply are:
o Complicated requests
o Large volume of requests
o Requests involving documents not readily available or if the necessary staff are unavailable to fulfill the request
Fees for Public Records
Fees must be limited to no more than $25.00 unless the requestor is provided with a written notification of the estimated amount of the fee and the requestor confirms that he/she wants the public body to proceed.
In order to recover its costs for responding to public records requests, the following fee schedule is adopted by the District:
- Copies of Public Records; Certified Copies: Copies of public records shall be charges $1.00 per page for standard, letter size copies. Copies shall be certified for an additional charge of $20.00.
- Copies of Sound Recordings: Copies of sound recordings of meetings shall be $20.00 per copy.
- Copies of Maps and Other Nonstandard Documents: Charges for copying maps or other nonstandard size documents shall be charged in accordance with the actual costs incurred by the District.
- Research Fees: If a request for records requires District personnel to spend more than 15 minutes searching or reviewing records prior to their review or release for copying, the minimum fee shall be $35.00 per hour and additional charges shall be in ¼ hour increments. The District shall estimate the total amount of time required to respond to the records request, and the person making the request shall make payment for the estimated cost of the search and copying of the records in advance. If the actual time and costs are less than estimated, the excess money shall be refunded to the person requesting the records. If the actual costs and time are in excess of the estimated time, the difference shall be paid by the person requesting the records at the time the records are produced.
- Additional Charges: If a request is of such magnitude and nature that compliance would disrupt the District's normal operation, the District may impose such additional charges as are necessary to reimburse the District for its actual costs of producing the records.
- Reduced Fee or Free Copies: Whenever it determines that furnishing copies of public records in its possession at a reduced fee or without costs would be in the public interest, the Board or Fire Chief may so authorize. ORS 192.440(4).
Authorization Required for Removal of Original Records
At no time shall an original record of the District be removed from the District's files or the place at which the record is regularly maintained, except upon authorization of the Board of Directors or Fire Chief.
On-Site Review of Original Records
If a request to review original records is made, the District shall permit such a review provided that search fees are paid in advance in accordance with the Fees for Public Records section, above. A representative shall be present at any time original records are reviewed, and the charges for standing by while the records are reviewed shall be the same as the charges for searching or reviewing records.
Unauthorized Alteration, Removal, or Destruction of Records
If any person attempts to alter, remove or destroy any District record, the District representative shall immediately terminate such person’s review, and notify the attorney for the District.