RI 2026 H7580: Public Records - Access to Public Records

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act regarding fees for records. Specifically, it mandates that any public record currently maintained in a computer storage system must be provided to a requester free of charge. While government agencies are typically allowed to charge fees for the search and retrieval of documents, this bill creates an exception for electronically stored data. The intent is to allow citizens to obtain existing digital files without incurring financial costs, provided the records are already in an electronic format.

For younger readers

Imagine you want to see a paper from the principal's office or the town hall. Usually, they might ask you to pay money for them to find it and copy it for you. This new rule says that if the school or the government already has that paper saved on a computer, they have to email it or give it to you for free. They cannot ask you to pay money just to get a file that is already digital. It makes it easier for people to see what the government is doing without paying.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

JournalistsGovernment ClerksTaxpayersAttorneysActivists

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost

Amount unknown

Estimated revenue

None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Eliminates financial barriers to information, ensuring that low-income individuals, grassroots activists, and non-profits can access public records and hold the government accountable without being priced out.
Promotes transparency and aids in the fight against corruption by making it significantly easier for journalists and watchdogs to obtain data and documents stored electronically.
Modernizes the democratic process by treating digital information as a public good that should be readily available to the community, rather than a commodity sold by the state.
Could place a significant strain on public employees and resources, potentially diverting time and funding away from essential social services to fulfill voluminous data requests.
May allow data-mining corporations to exploit public resources by demanding massive amounts of free data, effectively subsidizing private profit with public labor.
Lacks provisions for additional funding or staffing to handle the likely increase in workload, which could lead to burnout among unionized public sector workers.

For Conservatives

Empowers taxpayers to audit government spending and administrative decisions without having to pay the government extra fees to see how their tax dollars are being utilized.
Reduces the ability of government bureaucrats to use high fees as a barrier to hide information or discourage oversight from the citizenry and political opponents.
Encourages government efficiency by incentivizing agencies to maintain better organized digital records, potentially streamlining operations.
Shifts the financial burden of document retrieval entirely to the taxpayer, meaning the general public must subsidize the curiosity or commercial interests of specific individuals requesting records.
Could lead to the weaponization of the records process, where political activists harass agencies with massive, cost-free requests designed to gridlock government operations.
Increases the risk of sensitive information being released, as overwhelmed staff rushing to fulfill free requests may make errors in redacting private or confidential data.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 5 additions

SECTION 1. Section 38-2-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 38-2 entitled "Access to Public Records" is hereby amended to read as follows: 38-2-3. Right to inspect and copy records — Duty to maintain minutes of meetings — Procedures for access.

(a) Except as provided in § 38-2-2(4), all records maintained or kept on file by any public body, whether or not those records are required by any law or by any rule or regulation, shall be public records and every person or entity shall have the right to inspect and/or copy those records at such reasonable time as may be determined by the custodian thereof.

(b) Any reasonably segregable portion of a public record excluded by § 38-2-2(4) shall be available for public inspection after the deletion of the information which is the basis of the exclusion. If an entire document or record is deemed non-public, the public body shall state in writing that no portion of the document or record contains reasonable segregable information that is releasable.

(d) Each public body shall establish written procedures regarding access to public records but shall not require written requests for public information available pursuant to § 42-35-2 or for other documents prepared for or readily available to the public. These procedures must include, but need not be limited to, the identification of a designated public records officer or unit, how to make a public records request, and where a public record request should be made, and a copy of these procedures shall be posted on the public body’s website if such a website is maintained and be made otherwise readily available to the public. The unavailability of a designated public records officer shall not be deemed good cause for failure to timely comply with a request to inspect and/or copy public records pursuant to subsection (e). A written request for public records need not be made on a form established by a public body if the request is otherwise readily identifiable as a request for public records.

(e) A public body receiving a request shall permit the inspection or copying within ten (10) business days after receiving a request. If the inspection or copying is not permitted within ten (10) business days, the public body shall forthwith explain in writing the need for additional time to comply with the request. Any such explanation must be particularized to the specific request made. In such cases the public body may have up to an additional twenty (20) business days to comply with the request if it can demonstrate that the voluminous nature of the request, the number of requests for records pending, or the difficulty in searching for and retrieving or copying the requested records, is such that additional time is necessary to avoid imposing an undue burden on the public body.

(f) If a public record is in active use or in storage and, therefore, not available at the time a person or entity requests access, the custodian shall so inform the person or entity and make an appointment for the person or entity to examine such records as expeditiously as they may be made available.

(g) Any person or entity requesting copies of public records may elect to obtain them in any and all media in which the public agency is capable of providing them. Any public body which maintains its records in a computer storage system shall provide any data properly identified in a printout or other reasonable format, as requested. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 38-2-4, electronically stored public records in a computer storage system, shall upon request be provided at no charge.

(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a public body to reorganize, consolidate, or compile data not maintained by the public body in the form requested at the time the request to inspect the public records was made except to the extent that such records are in an electronic format and the public body would not be unduly burdened in providing such data.

(i) Nothing in this section is intended to affect the public record status of information merely because it is stored in a computer.

(j) No public records shall be withheld based on the purpose for which the records are sought, nor shall a public body require, as a condition of fulfilling a public records request, that a person or entity provide a reason for the request or provide personally identifiable information about him/herself.

(k) At the election of the person or entity requesting the public records, the public body shall provide copies of the public records electronically, by facsimile, or by mail in accordance with the requesting person or entity’s choice, unless complying with that preference would be unduly burdensome due to the volume of records requested or the costs that would be incurred. The person requesting delivery shall be responsible for the actual cost of delivery, if any.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.