Haywood County revises public records policy
New guidelines are now in place for the production of public records in Haywood County. File photo
A flurry of contentious public records requests by a longtime local government watchdog has prompted Haywood County officials to revise and update internal policies on how those requests are handled.
“We just saw some areas where it was unclear,” said Haywood County Attorney Chip Killian. “We just wanted to be sure it was consistent with the statutes.”
Since the beginning of the year, county resident Monroe Miller has made almost 30 separate requests for documents related to an earthmoving project underway on a piece of county-owned land.
The back-and-forth email chain between Miller and county employees, including Interim County Manager Joel Mashburn, became complicated and difficult to follow as it grew upwards of 70 emails and replies.
The discussion grew testy at times, with Miller dubbing Mashburn “Gatekeeper Mashburn” and resulted in County Project Administrator David Francis directing pointed, highly unusual comments directed at Miller, who he called “a shameful human being” during a commission meeting Feb. 19.
The county’s existing policy, originally adopted in September 2010, was revised and adopted March 19, and directly addresses issues raised regarding Miller’s requests.
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Now, requests must be made in writing by fax, mail, email or hand delivery and must be made to the county manager so they can be tracked. Previously, Miller told commissioners he felt Mashburn was obstructing his requests.
The custodian of the records, or the county manager, is supposed to respond to the request within three days, and at that time will provide an estimated time frame for completing the request, as well as a cost estimate — all new safeguards to ensure that everyone’s on the same page.
Public records have always been available for inspection in person during normal business hours at no cost, but a two-hour limit now applies to the duration of that meeting.
Some county departments, like the register of deeds or land records, already have a schedule of fees for the production of documents or electronic records, but for those that do not, a schedule of fees delineating costs will now apply.
Paper copies will be provided at 8 cents per page; there is no cost for email attachments less than 10 megabytes, but compact discs cost a quarter, and flash drives range from $5 to $10 each.
One new provision explains that the county will begin assessing a “special service charge,” of $18 an hour for requests that “require an extensive use of information technology resources,” a reason specifically allowed by N.C. General Statutes.
That figure is based on the approximate cost of an administrative assistant’s compensation, including benefits.
“We don’t question the public’s right to know, but we also don’t have someone that’s designated just for that purpose,” said Mashburn. “So any request we get has to become part of someone’s responsibility.”
If the records request is estimated by the county to cost more than $25, the county can now request a 75 percent deposit prior to fulfilling the request; in any case, if the requestor doesn’t pay for the records, the county says it can deny future requests from the requestor.
The revised policy explicitly states that the county is not obligated by public records laws to explain or otherwise debate or discuss records that have been produced.
Public records, very generally, are materials made or collected by governments and can include information presented in any form, including paper records, electronic files or even audio recordings.
Several types of communications are not considered public record however, like many personnel records, criminal investigation records and some legal communications.
