have they billed you for any requests?
Mine were all small enough that they wouldn’t cost beyond the $30 in search fees that they usually waive.
But they changed to a $7.50 for each unique index record after I had asked for all the index data for last names of Dunham, Obama, Sutoro, and Soetoro. This stuff is computerized. Surely they could do a field search and come up with a table of results, couldn’t they? Why is it such a big deal? I asked Okubo if they can do string searches and she wouldn’t answer.
The part in the “vexatious requestor bill” about a person abandoning a request after they find out how much it will cost..... that had my name all over it. No way am I going to pay $7.50 each to see if Obama has records under every potential combination of first, last, and middle initial (plus nicknames) he could have snuck information under. And nobody at the DOH or OIP would tell me what name search they used when they refer to “President Obama”. I did ask them if their new (illegal) rule change to charge fees applied to requests that had already been made. They wouldn’t answer me.
Law enforcement could see these records for free. The ombudsman has authority to go in at night and look at anything she wants to. But not only do we pay government officials to not do their job, we also have to pay to have the chance to do the job they refuse to do. Sigh.
I believe they have to give you an estimate of the cost before going ahead with any of the work, but you might want to make sure they know not to go ahead without your approval. Knowing them, they’d spring a $400 bill on you without any notice.