Can I be charged for postage for CPRA requested documents?

Answer

Unfortunately, I could not find any case law regarding whether an agency can charge for postage under the California Public Records Act (“PRA”).

When responding to a PRA request, an agency can charge for the “direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee if applicable.” Govt. Code section 6253(b).

“Direct costs of duplication” has been interpreted narrowly. See N. Cnty. Parents v. Dep’t of Ed., 23 Cal. App. 4th 144 (1994) (holding that agency cannot charge for costs associated with searching for, reviewing or redacting information).  It may be that the agency is claiming such costs are part of the “duplication” costs, since this would be similar to the costs that an agency could recover for, e.g., scanning and uploading the PDFs (similar to copy charges).

Alternatively, the agency may be claiming that the charge is permissible as a “statutory fee” if the County has a local rule that is applicable (although FAC’s position is that any “statutory fee” that is applicable to public records must be approved by the legislature, not a local entity).

In any event, if the agency is charging you a fee that you do not believe is proper, you may want to consider asking the agency for the specific authority upon which it is basing this fee.

You can find more information about this particular provision of the PRA in our Public Records Primer.

Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to First Amendment Coalition hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.