Requesting Public Records

You can expect an acknowledgment of your request within 5 business days of receiving the request form. We may request additional information or clarification from the requester for the purpose of expediting our response.

The department records coordinator will provide a time estimate to deliver the records based on the number of records and/or the difficulty of compiling, calculating, or retrieving the records.

County staff time and materials used to comply with requests for records or to summarize, compile or prepare records to meet a specific request are charged at an amount reasonably calculated to reimburse the county. The county will not charge more than a reasonable calculation of the actual costs to respond to the request, in compliance with state law.

We may require payment to recover costs even if we fail to locate records or the records turn out to be exempt from disclosure.

Some departments may also charge a fee.

Copies

Copies of the documents will be provided (not the originals) unless directed by court order.

Single-page, one-sided copies (letter, legal, or 11x17) may be charged at the rate of $1 for the first page and 10 cents for each additional page.

There is no fee for electronic copies (except for staff time).

Staff Time

Eligible staff time to be charged to the requester includes time spent locating, retrieving, and certifying documents. Eligible staff time may also include time spent supervising review of records (when supervision is reasonably necessary) and county attorney fees. County attorney fees for determining whether or not public records law applies to a request are not eligible for being charged to the requester.

Fee Waivers

The County Administrator or designee may waive or reduce fees for copying or inspecting records if the administrator or designee finds the waiver is in the public interest.

Some records are exempt from disclosure, as defined in Oregon Public Records Law.

The Clackamas County District Attorney is an independent state elected official and also serves as the appellate review for any county denials of requests for public records, other than those by elected officials. Therefore, the District Attorney may adopt specific procedures to perform its independent functions and to comply with state law.

Public records requests are often fulfilled by individual county departments. We can connect you to the appropriate records coordinator in each county department. Contact us at recordsmanagementinfo@clackamas.us for the appropriate department contact. Call us at 503-655-8323. 

Chapter 192 of the Oregon Revised Statutes on Records, Reports and Meetings