Editorial: Public records should not cost the public a dime

Call it a happy medium. Alabama residents who want public records from the city of Auburn will pay 15 cents more per page, increasing from 10 cents to 25 cents, but they will receive the first five copies requested in a 12-month period at no cost.
Copies of police and fire reports will be free to victims. They should be free to the victims.

People suffering from fire or auto damage should not have to pay to read the official version of their sour luck.

Come to think of it, public records shouldn’t have to cost a dime regardless.

We understand the fee covers the cost of paper — which, like everything else, continues to rise — but when fees are attached to items already owned by the public, it creates a slippery slope.

Granted, there isn’t a bouncer at the city hall door denying residents access to public records. But the sheer fact that a government charges a fee — albeit nominal — can stand in the way of a citizen having the opportunity to review what they have already paid for through local tax collections. That is anything but a government for the people by the people.

These are public records. Therefore, they should be for the public without any hang-up or cost whatsoever. If a city needs to raise annual taxes to help cover the cost of public demand for such records, so be it.

Cities that begin charging for such records and create methods that make it more difficult for the public to obtain them might want to consider changing the title to municipal records to avoid the allusion.

One part of this policy that makes absolutely no sense the is clause that requires that residents seeking public documents to state a reason for making such a request.

If residents already have every right to obtain these documents – and are paying for them – it’s ridiculous to ask them why they want them.

Why should it matter?

The correct answer to this request is, “because I’m a tax-paying citizen of the city of Auburn and I have every right to public documents no matter how difficult the city makes it to obtain them.”

Five complimentary copies over a span of 12 months is a step in the right direction. But more should have been done.