Guidelines and Form for Public Records Requests

NOTE: Public Records are NOT student or personnel records

 

Members of the public may request to inspect or copy public records. A public record includes any writing that contains information relating to the conduct of the public’s business.

Under Oregon law, Oregon Coast Community College must acknowledge receipt of a written request to inspect or receive copies of public records within 5 business days. Business days do not include Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays or days the College is closed.

Inspection and copying of a public record shall be done during regular business hours at the office where the record is located. The College may directly supervise the inspection or copying of college records and may list records inspected or copied by or at the request of the requester. The College may provide a copy in lieu of the original to protect the original. The College may provide a redacted copy in lieu of an original record in order to delete exempt material.

 

How to Request a Public Record from Oregon Coast Community College

Public records requests must be submitted in writing or through email using this form. Requests will be granted or denied in accordance with Oregon Public Records Law, ORS 192.311 to 192.478 based on the information provided by the requester.

Requesters shall submit OCCC’s Public Records Request Form. A $25 payment is required and must be mailed or delivered to: Oregon Coast Community College Registrar, 400 SE College Way, Newport, OR 97366.

Each request must reasonably describe the records being sought. The request must be specific enough to permit a college employee who is familiar with the subject matter to locate the record in a reasonable period of time. Note: you may email your initial request to registrar@oregoncoast.edu with your initial request form and questions; however, receipt of payment is required for processing.

  1. The College shall provide the requester with an estimate, in writing, if the reasonable costs associated with providing the public records are expected to exceed $25. Reasonable costs shall include but are not limited to the actual costs of making public records available, including costs of summarizing, compiling, or tailoring public records, either in organization or media, to meet the request, and the cost of time spent reviewing the public records, redacting materials, or segregating the public records into exempt and nonexempt records.
    • After receiving the estimate, the requester shall notify the College whether it wants the College to proceed with making the public records available. The College may require written confirmation that the requester wants the College to proceed with making the public records available.
    • If the requester fails to respond within 60 days to a good faith request from the College for information or clarification or fails to pay any fees the College shall close the request.
    • The College requires that the requester make payment to the College for the balance of the reasonable costs over and above the initial $25 payment prior to the release of the public records.

2.  The college will consider a request expired if the requester fails to pay the fee within 60 days of making the request, or the requester fails to respond to inquiries seeking clarification about how to proceed with the request. A new request is required once a previous request has expired.

3. The requesting party shall be charged at the rate(s) established below.

    • If the public records request requires a nominal amount of staff time (less than 30 minutes), up to 10 copies and digital conversaion can be made for $25.
    • If the public records request requires more than a nominal amount of staff time (30 minutes or more) and the number of copies exceeds 10 pages, then the requester shall be charged for the actual cost of staff time, including fringe benefits, plus copying/delivering charges, charges for summarizing, compiling tailoring, preparation and release of a condensed version of significant facts that are not otherwise exempt from disclosure, and the cost of time spent by an attorney for the College in reviewing with public records, redacting, material from the public records or segregating the public records into exempt and nonexempt records. Charges for copying or converting documents to a digital format shall be at the rate of $.10 per page.

4. Personnel costs shall be computed on the basis of 30-minute increments rounded up, for the time expended by college staff at the hourly rate of the employee(s) involved in searching for, reviewing, compiling, redacting, and organizing the requested records.

  • Fees may be waived if the furnishing of the copies is determined by the College to be in the public’s best interest as set forth in the Oregon Revised Statutes.
  • The College may charge for search time even if the custodian of the record fails to locate any records in response to the request, or if the records are subsequently determined to be exempt from disclosure.

Records that are exempt from disclosure may not be inspected or copied by members of the public. Social security numbers and other personally identifying information must be redacted from records before they are disclosed to the public