Maine Government Agency Tries To Charge Public Records Requester $750 For Opening A PDF

from the gov't-agencies-and-their-'get-rich-quick'-schemes dept

We've seen lots of ridiculous amounts tossed around by government agencies in response to public records requests. Most of the ridiculous amounts we've covered give the appearance that the agency making the demand feels requesters are also spending other people's money. Like a Texas agency demanding $1 million for prison sexual assault records or the FBI wanting $270,000 to hand over files on defense contractor Booz Allen.

Other demands are smaller, but no less of a deterrent to government transparency. In one infamous example, the Massachusetts State Police erected a $180 paywall around documents related to the agency's marijuana enforcement efforts. Once the agency had the money in hand, it turned around and asked the state supervisor of public records to declare the requested records exempt from release. That was back in July. The MSP still has yet to release the records the requester paid for.

Up in Maine, something just as devious is taking place. MuckRock member Adanya Lustig asked the Maine Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (located in Brunswick, ME) for a copy of the proposal it sent to Amazon in hopes of talking it into opening a second headquarters there.

Lustig did receive a copy of the proposal… and a very dubious email/clickwrap "agreement" in response:

Good afternoon Adanya, Per your FOAA request of November 3, 2017, I am submitting a digital copy of our proposal to Amazon. The proposal was prepared by our in-house staff, within our current marketing budget. There were no third-party entities involved in its preparation. We do not agree to waive any fees. By accepting and opening this document, you agree to reimburse the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority $750.00 for associated administrative and legal fees. Please remit check to: Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority 15 Terminal Road, Suite 200

Brunswick, ME 04011 Sincerely, Steve Steven H. Levesque

Executive Director

Lustig won't be paying this fee. As it noted in the MuckRock post, Maine law prohibits the collection of more than $30 in public records fees without advance notification. There was no notification here -- only the idiotic assertion that opening a PDF would result in Lustig agreeing to pay $750 to the Brunswick agency. The agency has yet to respond to Lustig's refusal, which seems to suggest other people not named Steven Levesque realized it was a stupid, unenforceable, and possibly illegal demand.

If you want to know what a $750 PDF looks like, it's embedded below.

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Filed Under: charges, demands, fees, foia, maine, maine midcoast regional redevelopment authority

Companies: amazon