Cap fees on public records

Pitting a college student against a big bureaucracy, a case at the University of Kansas provides a perfect example of why the Legislature needs to try again to cap what government agencies charge citizens inquiring about public records.

When Schuyler Kraus, president of Students for a Sustainable Future, was told by KU that it would cost $1,800 to fulfill a Kansas Open Records Act request about the relationship between KU and the Koch brothers, she was upset but undeterred. She told the Lawrence Journal-World this week that she had raised the money – an outrageous sum for a public institution to charge a citizen to see public records.

“I feel like because we are tuition-paying students and taxpaying Kansans, there shouldn’t be a fee or it should be minimal,” Kraus said. She’s right.

The students want to know more about connections between David and Charles Koch of Wichita’s Koch Industries and Art Hall, the executive director of the Center for Applied Economics at KU’s School of Business and an influential voice in state policymaking. The 11-year-old center’s donors include the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation.

However Kraus’ records hunt turns out, the House should reconsider a Senate-passed bill offered by state Sen. Jacob LaTurner, R-Pittsburg, that would cap the amount government agencies can charge in complying with KORA requests while making allowances for different levels of staff time. As it is, he told The Eagle editorial board Thursday, some governments inexcusably use the records requests to generate revenue.

“I think that in the end my friends in the House are going to realize that this bill represents the best interests of the people of Kansas, LaTurner said. “The status quo represents coddling government.”

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Cap fees on public records."