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HB 5457

AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Sam Azzinaro and 6 co-sponsors

HB 5457 raises search/retrieval fees for public records (up to $25/hour, first hour free) and requires paying old balances before new requests.

04/22/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
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Bill Summary · HB 5457

Bill Summary — HB 5457

Title: AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS -- ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS
Bill No.: HB 5457
Introduced: Feb 12, 2025 (filed Mar 14, 2025)
Sponsors: Reps. Azzinaro, Finkelman, Fellela, Serpa, McNamara, Kennedy, Hull
Current status: 04/22/2025 — Committee recommended measure be held for further study
Effective date: Upon passage (per bill text)

Purpose

HB 5457 amends Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records law (R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 38-2) to adjust fee and payment rules for providing public records, principally by increasing the hourly cap that public bodies may charge for search and retrieval of records and by requiring payment of outstanding balances before processing new requests.

Key provisions (what the bill would change)

  • Copying costs
    • Maintains the per-page charge cap at $0.15 for documents copied on common business or legal-size paper.
    • Public bodies may not charge more than the reasonable actual cost for providing electronic records or for retrieval from storage when a retrieval fee is assessed.
  • Search and retrieval fees
    • Increases the maximum hourly charge for search and retrieval from $15.00 to $25.00 per hour.
    • No fee may be charged for the first hour of search or retrieval.
    • Multiple requests from the same person or entity to the same public body within a 30‑day period are treated as a single request for fee purposes.
  • Estimates and itemization
    • Public bodies must provide a cost estimate upon request before supplying copies.
    • Upon request, public bodies must provide a detailed itemization of search and retrieval charges.
  • Fee waiver/reduction
    • A court may reduce or waive search/retrieval fees if disclosure is determined to be in the public interest (likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations) and the requester’s purpose is not primarily commercial.
  • Payment requirement
    • A requester must pay any outstanding balance owed for prior records requests before a new request will be processed.

Who is affected

  • Public bodies and agencies: may collect higher hourly fees for search/retrieval and must provide estimates and itemized charges; must treat multiple requests within 30 days as one.
  • Requesters (members of the public, journalists, businesses, etc.): may face higher fees for searches that exceed the first free hour and cannot submit new requests if they owe unpaid balances for prior requests.
  • Courts: retain discretion to reduce or waive fees when disclosure serves the public interest.

Procedural/timeline notes

  • Introduced Feb 12, 2025; filed Mar 14, 2025.
  • Referred to House State Government & Elections; subsequent committee scheduling and referral activity listed in the legislative record.
  • 04/22/2025: Committee recommended measure be held for further study (current status).

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Administrative: provides public bodies greater ability to recover staff time costs associated with searching for records.
  • Access: the higher hourly cap and the requirement to clear outstanding balances could discourage frequent or resource-intensive requests and might create access barriers for requesters with unpaid fees.
  • Public-interest disclosures: courts retain a mechanism to protect newsworthy or publicly beneficial disclosures from prohibitive fees.
  • Implementation: agencies will need procedures to track payments, aggregate requests over 30-day windows, produce estimates/itemizations, and apply the “first hour free” rule.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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