Blythewood approves revised FOI policy with hourly fees

The Blythewood Town Council has unanimously approved a revised Freedom of Information (FOI) policy that allows the town to charge citizens up to $86 per hour for responding to requests. This revised rate is a reduction from a previous proposal of $225 per hour for attorney review.

Critics and legal experts have raised concerns regarding the new policy's compliance with state law. Specifically, state law requires local governments to publish a fee schedule and limits charges for searching, retrieving, or redacting records to the prorated hourly salary of the lowest-paid employee capable of performing the task. The new policy reportedly lacks a specific fee schedule for staff time, listing the hourly charge as ‘TBD’ and only specifying a $0.25 per page fee for hard copies. Additionally, the policy includes a fee for an employee to observe the requester during document review, a practice that may exceed state authorizations.