Alabama Administrative Code › Title 420 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH › Chapter 420-1-5 - ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH › Section 420-1-5-.04 - Open Records

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) All
			 public records of the State Board of Health are available for public inspection
			 during business hours. Requests for such records may be made by Alabama
			 citizens either electronically, by mail, or in person, pursuant to the
			 provisions of the Alabama Open Records Act,
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §
								36-12-40.
(a) Copies of meeting minutes, department
			 forms, bureau records, and county health department records maintained in hard
			 copy may be obtained at a cost of $20 per hour, including a standard, minimum
			 fee of $20, for time spent locating, retrieving, and preparing records for
			 production. Unless otherwise provided by law or rule, requestors will also be
			 charged a per-page fee of $.50 for copies produced on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.
			 This charge may be waived in the case of requests by governmental agencies or
			 indigent persons.
(b) Copies of
			 records maintained electronically, including messages and attachments exchanged
			 via electronic mail, or for record searches related to extraordinary events,
			 such as public health emergencies of any kind, may be obtained at a cost of $20
			 per hour, including a standard, minimun fee of $20, for time spent locating,
			 retrieving, and preparing records for production, unless otherwise provided by
			 law or rule. There is no per-page charge for records obtained and provided
			 electronically. Copies of records pertaining to extraordinary events may be
			 provided to members of the press who are not citizens of the state, subject to
			 the requested charge.
(c) The
			 department will send a written acknowledgment of receipt of a request for
			 public records within 2 business days. Responses to standard requests that seek
			 one or more specifically and discretely identified public records that the
			 department determines would take less than 8 hours of staff time to process and
			 require no or minimal clarification from the requestor will be provided within
			 15 business days of the acknowledgement of receipt. If additional time is
			 required, the department may extend this period in 15-business day increments
			 upon written notice to the requestor.
(d) Requestors will be notified within 15
			 business days of the acknowledgment of receipt if the department determines
			 that a request is time-intensive, requiring more than 8 hours of staff time to
			 process, including vague or overly broad requests and any time needed to redact
			 or take other measures to withhold legally protected information. At that time,
			 the department will provide notice of any likely fees and allow the requestor
			 to withdraw the time-intensive request and submit a new request that is not
			 time-intensive. If the requestor elects to proceed with the time-intensive
			 request, the department will provide a substantive response fulfilling or
			 denying the request within 45 business days after the election to proceed. If
			 additional time is required, the department may extend this period in
			 45-business day increments upon written notice to the requestor.