Public records are supposed to be exactly that: Public and available to you. But too often governments and bureaucrats put a hefty pricetag on copying those records, making them inaccessible for many.
Why not save yourself some time and money by copying public records yourself?
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas has put out a handy how-to video on this topic. It's part of the nonprofit group's 60 Seconds to Freedom series, which can be viewed on the FOIFT YouTube page:
Portable copiers start at $140, according to Amazon.com. Texas Watchdog has on occasion used a digital camera or smartphone to duplicate a record.
This came in handy recently when a county bureaucrat tallied up a bill for court records that seemed too costly to this cheapskate reporter, but was based on allowable charges. Some county officeholders are allowed by law to charge $1 per page for copies, 10 times the usual amount for governments in Texas in general.
On another occasion, Texas Watchdog was in Dallas County. After pulling out a digital camera (no flash) to duplicate certain records held by a Dallas County department, a bureaucrat instructed us to put it away. As we were trying to get back to Houston that day, we had no time to dawdle. So it was especially satisfying when the county legal department came to our assistance and told the bureaucrat that yes, the public can do that.
Lee Ann O'Neal can be reached at leeann@texaswatchdog.org or at 713-980-9777.
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