Sheriff's copy fee increase here to stay

By Tim Damos, Capital Newspapers

Sauk County's head attorney says a resolution that doubles the fees for copies of documents from the sheriff's department is reasonable and in accordance with the state's open records law.

And it appears the Sauk County Board will not revisit the issue, despite the protests of a nonprofit group that says the board's action might be illegal.

"The fee schedule, like all legislative enactments, is presumed valid," said acting Sauk County Corporation Counsel Alene Kleczek in an e-mail to the News Republic. "Any challenge to the enactment must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

A resolution approved by the Sauk County Board last month increased the cost of copies of sheriff's department documents from 25 cents to 50 cents per page. The first three pages of any document are free.

State law only allows local governments to charge for the cost of providing copies — such as the cost of paper, ink and labor.

The state's attorney general recommends a fee of 15 cents per page and says any government charging more than 25 cents per page might be suspect.

Kleczek said the attorney general's position has allowed a fee of 25 cents per page for decades, despite inflation.

"It is not unreasonable to believe the cost of providing copies may be higher," Kleczek said.

But the 25-cent threshold hasn't been around for decades, said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. He said advances in technology should allow the county to reproduce records less expensively.

And the county shouldn't place the burden of proving that fees are excessive on its citizens, Lueders said.

"I don't think that is the correct standard, particularly given the explicit presumption of openness in the open records law," he said.

Lueders said county officials have provided no hard evidence supporting the fee increase.

Sheriff's department officials said the increase was necessary to recover the increased cost of paper, ink, labor and purchasing and maintaining copiers.

"Why does it cost the Sauk County Sheriff's Office 50 cents when Kinko's will make a copy for 10 cents, and they're in business to make money?" Lueders said.

But comparing a government entity to a business is like comparing apples to oranges, said Don Stevens, chairman of the Sauk County Board's Law Enforcement and Judiciary Committee.

He said sheriff's department officials told committee members recently that 50 cents is a middle-of-the-pack fee compared to other local governments statewide, though he didn't have specific examples of higher fees.

The higher fee for general documents helps the department recoup the cost of providing some documents for free, such as accident reports, Stevens said.

"We're still checking to see, overall, if there's anything we missed," Stevens said.

But unless something changes, the committee will not revisit the issue, he said.

Recent related articles:

Oct. 22: Copy fee increase may not be a done deal

Oct. 17: Sheriff's department plan to double copy fees approved