PRACTICES
A form is required.
You send a written request. The agency won’t start until you fill out its form instead. Your request stops there until you do. The law asks only for a request in writing.
“A public body that is the custodian of any public record that a person has a right to inspect shall give the person, upon receipt of a written request: (a) A copy of the public record if the public record is of a nature permitting copying; or (b) A reasonable opportunity to inspect or copy the public record.” ORS 192.324(1) “A public body shall make available to the public a written procedure for making public records requests that includes: (a) The name of one or more individuals within the public body to whom public records requests may be sent, with addresses; and (b) The amounts of and the manner of calculating fees that the public body charges for responding to requests for public records.” ORS 192.324(7)
- Oregon State Police
- April 2, 2026The emailed request is referred to the agency’s form.
- April 3, 2026The request as re-filed on the form.
- April 14, 2026A form to print and mail, in answer to the fee waiver request.
- Criminal Justice Commission
- October 27, 2026The request is directed to the agency’s own form.
- Department of Veterans' Affairs
- October 27, 2026The request is directed to the agency’s portal.
- Department of Public Safety Standards and Training
- October 28, 2026The request is directed to the agency’s portal.
- Department of Fish and Wildlife
- October 28, 2026The request is directed to the agency’s form.
The search is not run.
The agency answers that it has no records, or that it isn’t the custodian, and closes your request. The records stay where they are. Later, they turn up. The law says a response is complete when the agency gives you the records it has.
“A public body’s response to a public records request is complete when the public body: (a) Provides access to or copies of all requested records within the possession or custody of the public body that the public body does not assert are exempt from public disclosure, or explains where the records are already publicly available;” ORS 192.329(2)(a)
- Oregon State Police
- April 3, 2026No records, the same day. On April 13 the agency wrote that a CAD record existed.
- July 27, 2026Five days after the petition, the agency writes that it has located additional records.
- Department of Administrative Services
- July 6, 2026R000879 is closed as not the custodian, and the requester is referred to OPRD.
- Board of Accountancy
- October 29, 2026“I did not conduct a formal search.”
The request is called a burden.
The agency tells you your request is too big. That becomes the reason for a large fee, a long wait, or a smaller request. The law lets an overwhelmed agency take more time. It never lets the size of a request shrink what you get.
“The time periods established by ORS 192.324 and subsection (5) of this section do not apply to a public body if compliance would be impracticable because: (a) The staff or volunteers necessary to complete a response to the public records request are unavailable; (b) Compliance would demonstrably impede the public body’s ability to perform other necessary services; or (c) Of the volume of public records requests being simultaneously processed by the public body.” ORS 192.329(6)
- Department of Justice
- September 24, 2026“Your public records request is very broad in scope.”
- Oregon State Police
- August 11, 2026650 hours, and release 130 weeks after payment.
- Department of Corrections
- October 28, 2026Limited staffing, a high volume of requests, increased request complexity.
Narrowing is asked for, then not answered.
The agency asks you to ask for less. You ask what it would take. It doesn’t answer. It sends a delay, then a bill for the request as you first made it.
“A public body may request additional information or clarification from a requester of public records for the purpose of expediting the public body’s response to the request. If the public body has requested additional information or clarification in good faith, the public body’s obligation to further complete its response to the request is suspended until the requester provides the requested information or clarification or affirmatively declines to provide that information or clarification.” ORS 192.329(4)(a)
- Department of Justice
- September 24, 2026The requester is invited to narrow the request.
- September 24, 2026The same day, he offers to narrow, and asks which of the nine categories carry the burden.
- October 14, 2026An extension. The question is not answered.
- October 15, 2026A $599 estimate. The question is not answered.
What is held back is not named.
The agency sends some records and stops. It doesn’t say what it kept, or why. You can’t challenge a withholding you were never told about. The law requires the agency to name the exemption for every record it keeps from you.
“A public body’s response to a public records request is complete when the public body: … (b) Asserts any exemptions from disclosure that the public body believes apply to any requested records and, if the public body cites ORS 192.355 (8) or (9), identifies the state or federal law that the public body relied on in asserting the exemptions;” ORS 192.329(2)(b)
- Oregon State Police
- April 13, 2026The fee letter’s checklist: one item checked, and no entry for body camera footage.
- July 14, 2026The first production: one CAD record, and nothing said that anything else existed. A second CAD record and the rest surfaced later.
- July 15, 2026Each category of the April 3 request still without a disposition.
- September 3, 2026The second production, without four documents the produced records reference as attached.
The search is not described.
The agency says there are no records and won’t say where it looked or who looked. Sometimes the one who looked is the one the records are about. You can’t test an answer you can’t see. The law doesn’t require the agency to describe its search, so its word is all you get.
“A public body’s response to a public records request is complete when the public body: (a) Provides access to or copies of all requested records within the possession or custody of the public body that the public body does not assert are exempt from public disclosure, or explains where the records are already publicly available;” ORS 192.329(2)(a)
- Oregon State Police
- April 3, 2026Five questions on the search. They are not answered.
- Department of Administrative Services
- July 10, 2026A request that the agency describe the search behind its no-records answer. It is never answered.
- August 6, 2026“An extensive search has been conducted and no records exist.”
- Oregon Department of Transportation
- September 8, 2026The agency confirmed with Director Sumption that any responsive communications were on OPRD devices.
- Employment Relations Board
- October 27, 2026Staff are asked to search their own inboxes.
An estimate instead of the record.
You ask for the record and get a price. Nothing moves until you pay it. The law lets an agency charge only its actual cost, lets it give the record free when it serves the public, and never requires a fee.
“The public body may establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse the public body for the public body’s actual cost of making public records available, including costs for summarizing, compiling or tailoring the public records, either in organization or media, to meet the request.” ORS 192.324(4)(a) “The custodian of a public record may furnish copies without charge or at a substantially reduced fee if the custodian determines that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest because making the record available primarily benefits the general public.” ORS 192.324(5)
- Oregon State Police
- April 13, 2026$12.50.
- August 11, 2026$157.50.
- August 11, 2026$16,315.
- Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
- September 18, 2026$1,728.
- September 18, 2026$80.
- Office of the Governor
- September 22, 2026$572.50.
- Department of Justice
- October 15, 2026$599.
The request is called personal.
You ask for a fee waiver because the records serve the public. The agency answers that the records are about you, so the interest is yours, not the public’s, and denies the waiver. What the State writes about a person becomes the reason that person has to pay to see it. The law asks whether making the record available primarily benefits the general public. It does not exclude records about the person asking.
“The custodian of a public record may furnish copies without charge or at a substantially reduced fee if the custodian determines that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest because making the record available primarily benefits the general public.” ORS 192.324(5)
- Office of the Governor
- September 22, 2026“The requester has demonstrated that this request relates to a personal, rather than a public interest.”
- Department of Justice
- October 15, 2026“the records you seek pertain primarily to you and your private interests.”