SECTION 260:40-3-2. Documents and records

(a)   Documents filed with or presented to the EBD will be retained in the files of the EBD for the length of time required by state laws. Documents will be disposed of in a manner consistent with the Records Management Act, Section 201 through 216 of Title 67 of the Oklahoma statutes, and Sections 564 through 576 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes, which pertain to archive and records. The records disposition schedule for EBD will be available for public inspection.

(b)   The EBD shall act at all times in accordance with the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Records Act, 51 O.S. 1991, §§ 24A.1, et seq., as amended.

(c)   The public may obtain information relative to the operation of the EBD by submitting a written request in the prescribed form to the Director or his/her designee. All records shall be available for inspection and copying during normal business hours. The Director, or his/her designee, shall be available during normal business hours to receive and, where appropriate, act upon requests for record review and copying.

(d)   All records of EBD shall be public unless protected by a mandatory or permissive privilege of confidentiality. In the event a request is made for the release of records subject to a permissive privilege of confidentiality, the Director shall determine whether or not disclosure is made.

(e)   Provisions for copying and search fees are contained in the statute, with these exceptions being noted: no copy fee is charged to other public entities, to applicants, state employees or their representatives, or former employees seeking information from their file or employment records; and no search fee is charged to news media, schools, authors, or "taxpayers seeking to determine whether those entrusted with the affairs of its government are honestly, faithfully, and competently performing their duties as public servants." The fees listed in (1)-(4) of this Subsection may stand alone or be charged in combination. For example, a person may be charged a search fee in addition to a fee for photocopying.

(1)   Fees for photocopying. The EBD has established a fee schedule for photocopying documents having the dimension of 8.5 × 14.0 inches or smaller:

(A)   25 cents per page;

(B)   One dollar ($1.00) per copied page for a certified copy.

(2)   Fees for search. Requests that are for a commercial purpose or clearly would cause excessive disruption of office function will be charged a search fee equal to the hourly rate of the designated Document Manager for each hour of staff time spent in the search.

(3)   Fees for other types of reproduction. Requests for computer runs, microfilming or reproduction other than photocopying, will be charged at cost to the EBD of duplicating the information involved. Such requests are to be forwarded to the State Office where the fee will be developed with the appropriate division.

(4)   Payment of fees. All fees are paid prior to delivering the copies, and if the request is for search only, the fee is paid before the person is allowed to review the material. All fees are paid by check or money order; cash is not accepted. The fee payment is transmitted to the Employees benefits EBD, Attention Accounting Division. In addition, a receipt is to be given upon payment. A copy of the manual material is maintained to explain the fee schedule to interested persons.

[Source: Added at 31 Ok Reg 1358, eff 9-12-14]