Earlier this year, animal rights activist and University of Utah student Jeremy Beckham won a victory when the Utah State Records Committee unanimously ruled that the university had to provide him information on primate studies that Beckham requested under the freedom of information act. But the university turned around and demanded that Beckham pay $300 for the primate research information.
Beckham appealed that proposed charge to the State Records Committee which in September ruled that the university had acted appropriately and could charge such fees.
The university claims that because the “proprietary nature of the research involved” that it had to employ a lawyer, a research scientist and a lab technician to analyze the information and decide what could and could not be released under the state’s freedom of information act. The university then gave Beckham a bill for $299.08 to cover those expenses.
Utah’s freedom of information act contains a vague statement that state agencies may charge “reasonable” fees to cover their costs in compiling information requested, and the commission decided that in this case the University of Utah’s fees were reasonable. In its decision the committee wrote,
In this unique circumstance, scientists, technicians and lawyers are the lowest paid employees of the University who have the necessary skill and training to perform the review of the requested records necessary to identify the portions that must be redacted to protect the UniversityÂ’s intellectual property and other information protected by GRAMA. After considering the evidence, the Committee is persuaded that the segregation and redaction fees detailed by the University are reasonable. Therefore, we affirm the UniversityÂ’s decision to deny Mr. BeckhamÂ’s request for a fee waiver.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Records Committee member Cherie Willis noted that when the committee was deciding the issue of whether or not the records could be made public at all, testimony from witnesses indicated that specialists would be required to compile the information,
In our previous discussions, we heard testimony from expert witnesses who said these type of individuals would be required and that it would be expensive. There were no objections to it at that time.
Beckham for his part continued to insist that $300 is unreasonable,
All this means is that the taxpayer has no right to information as to how their money is being used to conduct these experiments unless they are wealthy.
The full text of the Records Committee’s decision can be read here.
Source:
State panel won’t drop fees for public information. Salt Lake Tribune, September 17, 2004.