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There is no statutory or case law addressing this issue.
Alabama
There is no uniform fee schedule or formula for the assessment of fees for copies of electronic records. In Birmingham News Co. v. Peevy, 21 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2125 (Cir. Ct. of Montgomery County, Ala., July 22, 1993), the trial court ordered the requester to pay (a) “the actual, reasonable cost incurred by the Department [of Public Safety] to create any new computer program required to comply with [the Plaintiff’s request for motor vehicle records]” and (b) the statutorily mandated fee of $5.75 “for each and every individual driving record identified by named driver in any such copy of the Department’s databases delivered to the Plaintiff,” id. at 2125, presumably on the ground that the MVR fee statute makes no distinction for the form in which the MVR records are produced. Ala. Code § 32-7-4 (1999) (as of Sept. 13, 1997, access to MVRs has been governed by 18 U.S.C. § 2721).
Rule 33 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration provides that the Administrative Director of Courts (“ADC”) will promulgate policies and procedures — including a schedule of costs — for handling applications for computer-based information that is maintained by the Administrative Office of Courts (“AOC”). No such cost schedule has been established, but AOC computer-based information is available through two on-line services, ALALINC and alacourt.com. ALALINC has an annual user fee and provides access to current appellate decisions of the Alabama Supreme Court, Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, United States Circuit Court for the Eleventh Circuit, and United States Supreme Court, in addition to general information about Alabama’s criminal justice system, directories of judicial officers, and related educational information. Alacourt.com has a one-time user fee of $150, and a monthly fee of $84 to $134, depending on the number of users; it provides access to case action summaries of pending civil and criminal actions in all Alabama trial courts, with search capacity.
Much more typically, there will be no statutorily mandated fee, and the fee for records in electronic format should be subject to the same reasonable-cost-of-production requirement that governs records requests in any other form. See Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2008-030, 2007 Ala. AG LEXIS 97 (Dec. 28, 2007) (stating a state agency “may recoup reasonable costs incurred providing public documents to a citizen”).
Alabama
The Alabama Code provides for the sale of information from the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC) at a fee not to exceed $25, with all fees collected going to the State’s General Fund. Ala. Code § 41-9-644 (2000). There is as yet no other provision for generating revenue by the sale of public records in electronic form.
Alabama
We know of no fee schedule or formula for assessment of fees for the use of Geographic Information Systems.
Alabama
The State of Alabama has a website at http://www.alabama.gov. The State Agencies portion of the site (http://info.alabama.gov/) has links to websites for over 200 State departments and agencies. The content of these sites varies a great deal, from public relations and descriptive information about the particular agency or department to more substantive information, e.g., maps, statistics, and resource material and citations. There is no fee for these sites.
Public records that are available on-line with a fee charge include the following:
1. ALALINC: Current appellate decisions of the Alabama Supreme Court, Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, and Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, United States Circuit Court for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court are available. There is an annual user that varies depending on the package selected. ALALINC also provides information about Alabama’s judicial system, directories of judicial officials, and related educational material.
2. alacourt.com: Case action summaries for pending civil and criminal actions in all Alabama trial courts, with search capability. The cost is a one-time fee of $150, and a monthly fee of $84 to $134, depending on the number of users. Access is available for free to Alabama State Bar members at a limited number of county courthouse libraries.
Alabama
Beyond the categories listed below, the following records are also available to the public by specific law, case law, or attorney general opinion:
1. Aeronautics
a. Civil Air Patrol: current lists of license tags in each county issued to amateur radio operators licensed by the Civil Air Patrol. Ala. Code § 32-6-92 (1999) (public records).
b. State Department of Aeronautics: records regarding rules and regulations for licensing certain open-to-the-public airports. 1 Ala. Admin. Code r. 60-X-1-.03 (Supp. March 31, 1991) (public records).
2. Agriculture
a. Alabama Agricultural and Conservation Development Commission: all records of the Commission. Ala. Code § 9-8A-3(e) (2001) (public records).
3. Conservation and Natural Resources
a. State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: all records, except confidential reports and accident reports for vessels. Ala. Code § 33-5-7 (2002) (public records).
4. Courts
a. Circuit court register’s office: records of the office, when not in use by the register. Ala. Code § 12-17-119 (1995) (public records).
b. County juror commissions: master list of jurors. Ala. Code § 12-16-57(c) (1995) (public record).
c. County Probate Judge’s Office: records “regarding license plates issued for state vehicles other than unmarked state vehicles that are used for investigative or surveillance work in law enforcement.” Birmingham News Co. v. Hobbie, 12 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1687, 1688 (Cir. Ct. of Montgomery County, Ala., Dec. 20, 1985); see also Ala. Code § 12-13-50 (1995) (“The records of the office [of probate judge] must be free for the examination of all persons when not in use by the judge, whether such persons are interested in such records or not.”) (public records).
5. Criminal Procedure
a. Sheriff’s office: records of prisoners, execution or order of sale of property, and sales of property. Ala. Code § 36-22-13 (2001) (public records); pistol licenses. TV Alabama, Inc. v. Woodward, No. CV-9707688 (Cir. Ct. of Jefferson County, Alabama, December 17, 1997); the front side of incident/offense reports. Washington County Publications v. Wheat, No. CV-99-94 (Cir. Ct. of Washington County, Alabama, May 1, 2000).
b. State Department of Corrections: inmate work release rosters, including the inmate’s name, the specific location of the inmate, the inmate’s place of employment, and the crime for which the inmate is incarcerated. 200 Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. 25 (Aug. 20, 1985) (public records).
6. Environmental Control
a. State Air Pollution Control Act: records, reports, and information gathered pursuant to agency authority, except for trade secrets. Ala. Code § 22-28-20(a) (1997) (public records).
b. State Hazard Waste Management Act: records, reports, and information gathered pursuant to agency authority, except for trade secrets. Ala. Code § 22-30-18 (1997) (public records).
c. State Underground Storage Tank and Wellhead Protection Act: records, reports, and information gathered pursuant to agency authority, except for trade secrets. Ala. Code § 22-36-8 (1997) (public records).
d. Water Pollution Control Commission: records and reports gathered pursuant to agency authority, except for trade secret, profit, production, and sales information. Ala. Code § 22-22-9(c) (1997) (public records).
7. Fire Marshal
a. Alabama Fire Fighters’ Personnel Standards and Education Commission: bylaws and regulations. Ala. Code § 36-32-6 (2001) (public records).
b. State Fire Marshal: records of all fires occurring in the State, except that testimony taken in a fire investigation may be withheld at the Marshal’s discretion. Ala. Code § 36-19-25 (2001) (public records).
8. Government, Local
a. Board of adjustment: minutes of proceedings, including the vote of each member upon each question, and records of examinations and other actions. Ala. Code § 11-52-80(b) (1994) (public records).
b. Board of commissioners in city commission form of government: a record of the proceedings of every meeting. Ala. Code §§ 11-44-22, -82 -126 (1989) (public records).
c. City council in mayor-council form of government: a record of the proceedings of every meeting. Ala. Code §§ 11-44C-28 and -44E-51 (1989) and -44B-6(f) (Supp. 2005) (public records).
d. City council in council-manager form of government: a journal of proceedings of every meeting. Ala. Code §§ 11-43A-24 (1989) and -86, -90 (Supp. 2005) (public records).
e. Municipal planning commissions: record of resolutions, transactions, findings, and determinations. Ala. Code § 11-52-4 (1994) (public records).
9. Government, State
a. Administrative procedure: contested cases: the recording or stenographic notes of oral proceedings or the transcription thereof, except in cases where private hearings are authorized by law, or where the proceedings are ordered sealed by order of court or are required to be sealed by statute. Ala. Code § 41-22-12(h) (2000) (public records).
b. Alabama Housing Finance Authority Board of Directors: all records of the Board. Ala. Code § 24-1A-4 (2000) (public records); see also Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2001-063 (Jan. 5, 2001).
c. Beautification Board of the State of Alabama: a record of the proceedings. Ala. Code § 41-9-494 (2000) (public records).
d. State Ethics Commission: financial disclosure statements filed by public officers and employees. Ala. Code § 36-25-4(a)(5) (2001) (public records).
10. Health Care
a. Alabama Board of Examiners of Counseling: records, orders, and judgments. 4 Ala. Admin. Code r. 255-X-1-.07 (Supp. June 30, 2003) (public records).
b. Alabama Medicaid Agency: uniform cost reports filed by providers with the Agency. 184 Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. 27 (Aug. 25, 1981) (public records).
c. State Nursing Board: names of nurses whose licenses have been revoked. 167 Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. 28 (May 4, 1997) (based upon statutory provisions that have been revised and replaced by Alabama Code § 34-21-25 (2002), but arguably still good law for this point); see Ala. Code § 34-21-25 (j)(6) (2002) (“The records of a licensee who fails to comply with the program agreement or who leaves the state prior to the successful completion of the program shall not be deemed confidential.”) (public records).
11. Highway Department
a. State Highway Department: files and records, including plans and specifications. Ala. Code § 23-1-34 (2000) (public records).
12. Railroads
a. Northeast Mississippi-Northwest Alabama Railroad Authority Compact Board of Directors: records of the Authority and the Board. Ala. Code § 37-11A-1 art. IV (1992) (public records).
13. Veterinarians
a. Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners: complete and accurate records of all meetings, except the records of closed meetings to prepare, approve, administer, or grade examinations or to deliberate qualifications of a proceeding to discipline a licensed veterinarian. Ala. Code § 34-29-66(b)(8) (2002) (public records).
Alabama
Most autopsies in Alabama are performed by the State Department of Forensic Sciences, and records of those autopsies are expressly public by statute. Ala. Code § 36-18-2 (2001) ("The director [of the Department of Forensic Sciences] shall keep photographed or microphotographed reproductions of original reports of all investigations that he conducts in his office. Reproductions of such materials shall be public records and shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times."). County coroners may also require autopsies to be performed, pursuant to their duty to hold inquests under Alabama Code § 11-5-4 (1998). See also Ala. Code § 15-4-2 (1995) (examination of body and report by coroner; autopsy).
Since a county coroner is a public officer, see Ala. Code § 36-12-1 (2001), records of the county coroner's autopsies are public records subject to disclosure under the Public Records Law, unless there is a pending criminal investigation and the disclosure of their information will compromise the investigation. Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2007-015, 2006 Ala. AG LEXIS 142 (Dec. 4, 2006).
Alabama
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