Request Open Records
POLICY AND PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING COPIES OR ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS PURSUANT TO THE KANSAS OPEN RECORDS ACT - KORA K.S.A 45-215
REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS
8:00 A.M. TO 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, except for officially observed holidays.
Requests received after 5:00 p.m. will not be logged in and processed until the following business day.
DESIGNATED CUSTODIANS
County Administrator and County Counselor
County Courthouse, 300 Walnut, Leavenworth, KS 66048
dvanparys@leavenworthcounty.gov
ACCESS TO COUNTY RECORDS
County records subject to disclosure under the KORA can be made available for inspection and copying during regular business hours of the county. Prior contact with the county is encouraged in order to facilitate this. A county employee must be present during the inspection and copying.
Requests for copies of records subject to disclosure under the KORA should be directed to the Designated Custodian for processing. Requests will be answered as quickly as possible and within the KORA. Use of this form is encouraged as it will reduce the chances of any misunderstanding of the nature and scope of the request and delay in responding to your request. This form is not required to be used, but the following is required in order to properly process a request.
- The request must be in writing
- The name of the requesting party
- A mailing address for the requesting party
- A phone number or e-mail address where the requesting party can be contacted, and
- Detailed information about the records being requested. This will help staff in
determining if the requested records exist, are in the county’s possession and are subject to
disclosure under KORA. Requests for records not yet in existence or documents to be created
prospectively cannot be honored.
REQUESTS FOR ELECTRONIC FORMAT RECORDS
The records custodian will be the sole judge of the ability of the agency to comply with any request for the records to be provided in electronic format or for records that must be produced in any special computer generated format.
FAX AND AIR EXPRESS DELIVERY
Generally, records may be faxed if the request is for fewer than 15 pages and fax time and facilities are readily available.
If air express delivery is requested, the requesting party must arrange for pick up and packaging of the records; all associated costs for such delivery must be paid by the requesting party.
The county records custodian has sole discretion as to whether to honor requests for faxing or express delivery.
RESPONSE TIME
The county will act upon requests as soon as possible, with some response being made to the requesting party no later than the third business day following the receipt of the request. If it appears that additional time will be needed, fees will be assessed., or some of the records may be closed by law, or otherwise not subject to disclosure under KORA, a written response will be provided as soon as the records have been located and reviewed.
FEES
The following fees shall be charged:
| Copies | $0.25 will be charged per page for paper copies, $0.125 per page for electronic copies. | ||||||||
| Mailing | A charge for first class postage will be made for the mailing of paper copies. Electronic copies may be mailed or transmitted electronically and the cost calculated on volume. | ||||||||
| Faxes | A charge of $0.65 per 10 page fax. | ||||||||
| Staff Time | Staff time will be charged at the rate of pay and benefits for each person(s) whose time is used in order to assist and/or respond to a specific request. This may include the time spent to access records maintained on computer facilities, review records to determine whether closure exceptions apply and/or to redact open from closed information. For most requests the time charged will be:
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| Additional fees, including any costs incurred by the county in connection with complying with a record request may be assessed to the requesting party. | |||||||||
ADVANCED PAYMENT OF FEES REQUIRED
The county will provide the requesting party with an estimate of the fees before processing or providing access to records. This estimate fee must be paid before the county processes the request or provides access to records.
While the county will do its best to provide an accurate estimate of the fee, it is possible that the records can be produced for less than the estimated cost, in which a refund of any additional amounts will be refunded.
It is also possible that the estimated fee is low once the actual processing work is started. If the county discovers that the estimated fee is to low, the county will promptly advise the requesting party of the corrected estimated fee, and request advance payment of the additional costs before continuing work on the request.
Payment may be made by check or money order payable to the Treasurer of Leavenworth County, Kansas. Returned checks will incur an additional fee of $30.00
