DUNBAR, W.Va. - Dunbar city officials are backing off a decision to charge a research fee to give out public information.

On Monday, Dunbar City Council approved an ordinance to charge $10 an hour to look up public information for people who file requests under the state Freedom of Information Act. The city would also charge 35 cents a page to make copies of city documents under the ordinance.

The Freedom of Information Act requires governmental bodies and other public agencies to provide public information to anyone who makes a request under the provisions of the act. While many public bodies around the state provide the information for free, state law says, "The public body may establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for its actual cost in making reproductions of such records."

Dunbar City Councilwoman Connie Boardman said city officials think it's reasonable to charge the public for the time it takes to look up records. She said the city employees who have to look up the records are short-staffed, and have to spend a lot of time looking up public documents.

Boardman said the two clerks who are mostly responsible for looking up the records make $12 and $14 an hour. "What's reasonable?" Boardman asked. "If the clerk makes $12 or $14 an hour, $10 is reasonable, isn't it?"

Other cities in Kanawha County don't charge the public a fee to look up information.

"I don't think I'd be in favor of that," said South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens. "That's part of our job, to give information to the public."

Many municipalities and other agencies around the state charge a few cents per page to photocopy public records. St. Albans Mayor Dick Callaway said city officials give members of the public the first five pages of a public document free, then charge 25 cents a page for copies after that. He said city officials do not charge a research fee to look up information to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests.

DUNBAR, W.Va. - Dunbar city officials are backing off a decision to charge a research fee to give out public information.

On Monday, Dunbar City Council approved an ordinance to charge $10 an hour to look up public information for people who file requests under the state Freedom of Information Act. The city would also charge 35 cents a page to make copies of city documents under the ordinance.

The Freedom of Information Act requires governmental bodies and other public agencies to provide public information to anyone who makes a request under the provisions of the act. While many public bodies around the state provide the information for free, state law says, "The public body may establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for its actual cost in making reproductions of such records."

Dunbar City Councilwoman Connie Boardman said city officials think it's reasonable to charge the public for the time it takes to look up records. She said the city employees who have to look up the records are short-staffed, and have to spend a lot of time looking up public documents.

Boardman said the two clerks who are mostly responsible for looking up the records make $12 and $14 an hour. "What's reasonable?" Boardman asked. "If the clerk makes $12 or $14 an hour, $10 is reasonable, isn't it?"

Other cities in Kanawha County don't charge the public a fee to look up information.

"I don't think I'd be in favor of that," said South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens. "That's part of our job, to give information to the public."

Many municipalities and other agencies around the state charge a few cents per page to photocopy public records. St. Albans Mayor Dick Callaway said city officials give members of the public the first five pages of a public document free, then charge 25 cents a page for copies after that. He said city officials do not charge a research fee to look up information to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests.

Nitro city officials also do not charge a research fee, Mayor Rusty Casto said.

Charleston City Attorney Paul Ellis said Charleston city officials don't even charge members of the public for photocopies unless they want large numbers of documents copied. Ordinarily, he said, city officials would not charge a research fee to comply with requests under Freedom of Information Act.

"We're a public entity, we serve the public, and unless it's going to cost the city an inordinate amount of time or money, we wouldn't charge a fee," Ellis said.

Boardman said Dunbar officials based their research fee on information provided by The National Security Archive, a research institute operated by George Washington University. Archive staff found that some agencies around the country charge between $8 an hour and $45 an hour to search for and review documents requested under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Different agencies also charge between 10 cents and 35 cents a page to make photocopies.

Assistant State Attorney General Dawn Warfield said some state agencies charge a fee to search for documents. But the question of what constitutes a "reasonable" fee has not been addressed by the state Supreme Court.

Dunbar officials said Wednesday they would conduct more research before implementing their search fee. "We're going to delay it until we clarify whether we're within the law," said interim Mayor Jack Yeager.

Reach Rusty Marks at rustyma...@wvgazette.com

or 348-1215.