BRB's Public Records Blog

Allegheny County, PA Raises Court Filing Fees and RE Recording Fees

Effective February 2, 2009, the Allegheny Department of Court Records and the Department of Real Estate increased a number of filing and recording fees. For example, a 4-page filing that used to cost $45 now is $65. The search and copy fees remain the same.

For the Civil/Family Division see:
http://dcr.alleghenycounty.us/Civil-Fees-2009.htm.

For the Department of Real Estate see:
www.county.allegheny.pa.us/re/fees.aspx

NH Looks to Increase Fees for Driving Records

 
A bill recently introduced in the New Hampshire Legislation would increase the cost of a driving record from $8.00 to $15.00 for paper copies, and from $8.00 to $14.00 for electronic copies.  Interestingly, the language in HB 540 states "The department may issue a copy of any motor vehicle record upon the request of an insurance company or any other authorized agent, and notwithstanding RSA 91-A shall require payment by the insurance company or authorized agent of a fee of [$8] $14 for email or other computer-generated requests where payment is debited against an account established with the department, or $15 for all other requests..."

While New Hampshire is known to be very restrictive in regards to motor vehicle record access, it does permit employers, such as trucking companies, record access under the proper circumstances and with consent. Yet the bill only specifically mentions insurance companies and their agents. There is a question of what the other permissible requesters would pay for a record. Also, the NH DMV currently sells a ten-year certified for $10, yet this record was not addressed by the legislation.

Two Bills Introduced in New Mexico to Permit Email Requests of Public Records

Two bills were recently introduced in the New Mexico Legislation that would permit the public to request via email copies of public records.

Bill 598 Amends Section 14-2-8 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
Chapter 258, Section 5) and states "For the purposes of this section, "written request" includes an electronic communication, including email or facsimile; provided that the request complies with the requirements of Subsection C of this section."

Bill 507 states that "A written request may be made in electronic or paper form. Information on how to make requests for public records shall be prominently displayed on a publicly accessible web site maintained by or for the public body holding the public records. And the record custodian shall make public records available in electronic form accessible from a remote location, upon request, for a fee of twenty-five cents ($.25) or less per page."

Both bills received a do-pass recommendation from the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. View the bills at http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/_locatorcom.aspx?year=09 

Dane County Wisconsin Sheriff's Office and Record Requests

The Dane County (where the city of Madison is) Wisconsin Sheriff's Office now permits record requests to be made via online as an automatic email using the request form at www.danesheriff.com/records.aspx. Records available include accident reports and sheriff investigated incidents.

MA Registry of Motor Vehicles Looks to Increase Record Fees

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles recently announced its intention to increase a number of license, registration, and record fees.
The fee for a certified copy of license, registration or title information would increase from $10 to $20. The fee for the complete or partial file of registration and licensing data would increase from $2,500 to $7,500.

A copy of driving record (paper) would increase from $15 to $20. A copy of an accident report would increase from $10 to $20 as would a certified or attested copy of any record. Passenger vehicle registration, certificate of title, and driver license issuance fees all are looking at 20 to 45% increases.

The public is invited to register comments on the fee revisions at a hearing on March 16 in the State Transportation Building, 2nd Floor, Conference Room 2-3 at 10:00am.
See www.mass.gov/rmv/rmvnews/2009/RMV_Fees_022309.htm for more information and a complete list of the proposed fee increases. 

Shasta County (CA) Assessor-Recorder Raises Copy and Certification Fees

Effective February 5, 2009, the price for copies of recorded documents and official records from the Shasta County Assessor-Recorder's Office increased significantly. The copy fee is now $3.50 for the first page and $1.50 per each additional page. Previously the fee was $1.00 for the first page and $.50 each additional page. The fee to certify a document remains at $2.50.

Oregon's Driver Monitoring Program

Oregon’s Automated Reporting Service (ARS) Program allows users who have a Record Inquiry Account to submit a name list and DMV will automatically produce a printed driving record whenever a conviction, accident or suspension is posted to the record. There is always a $3.00 fee whenever a record is produced. The maintenance of adding or deleting drivers can be done free of charge via Oregon’s online DMV service. If adding or deleting names is done by the DMV, there is a $2.00 fee per name. For more information about ARS, call 503-945-5427.

 
© excerpt from The 2009 MVR