1. (a) Reproduction Charges. Copies of documents not excepted from disclosure by the Texas Public Information Act (Government Code, Chapter 552) may be obtained upon written request to the department at rates established by the General Services Commission in 1 TAC §§111.61-111.70 (relating to Copies of Public Information) or other applicable law.
2. (b) Charge for Fax Transmittal. On request, the agency may transmit a form or other document by facsimile (FAX) machine to the person making the request. The charge for this service is $.10 per page for local telephone delivery, $.50 per page for telephone delivery within the same area code, and $1.00 per page for telephone delivery to a different area code, excluding any cover or transmittal page.

3. (c) Service Charges.

   1. (1) For copies of more than 50 pages of readily available information, a charge of $15 per hour of personnel time spent locating, copying, and preparing the information for delivery or inspection shall be added to charges specified by subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
   2. (2) For copies of information that is not readily available, a charge of $15 per hour of personnel time spent locating, copying, redacting confidential information, and preparing the information for delivery or inspection including computer time, if applicable, plus $3.00 per hour for overhead, plus $.50 per minute of computer time (if applicable) shall be added to the charges specified by subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
   3. (3) If certification of copies is requested, an additional charge of $5.00 per document will be added to the computed fee.
   4. (4) If the anticipated charges under this section exceed $100, the department may require a bond for payment of costs or cash prepayment equal to the total anticipated charges prior to release of the requested information.

4. (d) Delivery charges.

   1. (1) U.S. mail. When copies are required to be mailed, the cost of postage will be added to the computed fee.
   2. (2) Expedited delivery. When copies are required to be sent by overnight courier or other expedited delivery, the cost of the service will be added to the computed fee unless the requestor furnishes a recipient billing number for use by the department in delivering the copies to the carrier.

5. (e) Request for Information. The following guidelines apply to requests for records under the Open Records Act (Government Code, Chapter 552).

   1. (1) Request must be in writing and reasonably identify the records requested.
   2. (2) Records access will be by appointment only.
   3. (3) Records access is available only during the regular business hours of the department.
   4. (4) Generally, unless confidential information is involved, review may be by physical access or by duplication, at the requestor's option. Any person, however, whose request would be unduly disruptive to the ongoing business of the office may be denied physical access and will only be provided the option of receiving copies by duplication.
   5. (5) When the safety of any public record is at issue, physical access may be denied, and the records will be provided by duplication as previously described.
   6. (6) Confidential files will not be made available for inspection or for duplication unless required by a court order or Attorney General directive.
6. (f) Waiver of Fees or Charges. The commissioner may waive or reduce an established charge when, in his or her discretion, a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because furnishing the information primarily benefits the general public. The fee may also be waived if the cost of processing the collection of a charge will exceed the amount of the charge.

Source Note:The provisions of this §97.114 adopted to be effective September 1, 1994, 19 TexReg 6557; amended to be effective December 9, 2001, 26 TexReg 9778.