This is an interesting topic.  No matter what the laws are in each state, there isn't a municipality in the country that would openly say they deny the public's access to public information.  However, they walk a fine line between restriction and access through the use of these so called 'administrative fees' and other types of access requirements.  The use of fees and other 'restrictions' to balance a municipal budget is obviously nothing new but it's interesting to think about the balance between the financial needs of a government agency and reasonable access to public information.

In obtaining tax information for example, many cities and towns will not charge the homeowner to obtain their own tax information but if a third party requests the info from the town and pays the fee, there is the likelihood that the fee will simply be passed on to the homeowner as part of the closing costs and they end up paying for it anyway.  This is just one example of how access to public records and the cost of obtaining them can affect the end user and those of us in the industry.  The question that should always be asked is whether or not an imposed restriction will have a negative affect on reasonable access to public records.  A topic that affects all of us!