Sunshine Law - Missouri Attorney General

FEESR.L. POLK & CO. v. MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE,309 S.W.3d 881 (Mo. App. W.D. 2010)Department of Revenue established a $3.82 charge per electronic copy for Missourivehicle or driver’s license records, based on analysis of its costs to maintain andprovide electronic copies or records. Court ruled that DOR’s uniform per electronicrecord fee was not authorized by § 610.026.1(2), RSMo, in that it did not includeonly the costs of copies, staff time, and the cost of the medium used for duplication.The court recognized that such costs do not necessarily vary on a per record basis.WEBSTER COUNTY ABSTRACT CO., INC. v. ATKISON,328 S.W.3d 434 (Mo. App. S.D. 2010)Recorder of Deeds charged a flat fee (per record charge) for all copies of records asauthorized by § 59.130, RSMo, which allows up to $2.00 for the first page and up to$1.00 for each additional page. Charge bore no relationship to actual costs. Abstractcompany filed suit claiming charges violated the Sunshine Law, specifically§ 610.026, RSMo. The court held the language at the beginning of § 610.026,RSMo, “[e]xcept as otherwise provided by law” permitted the per record chargesauthorized by § 59.130, RSMo.MISSOURI SUNSHINE LAW 2014 43