Request for Public Records

North Idaho College is a public institution and follows provisions of the Idaho Public Records law, granting individuals the right to examine any public records maintained by the institution, except for those records which are exempt by law.

A public record includes, but is not limited to, any writing prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristic.

SUBMIT A PUBLIC REQUEST

• To make a public records request please fill out and submit the form below.

• Information about the request

  North Idaho College will provide records based on the description received in a records request.

  Most records requests are usually completed by the college at no charge. However, fees may occur when requests are labor intensive due to a high volume of documents and/or redactions, etc.

  Prepaid Fees - All fees must be prepaid and received by the college before a records request can be fulfilled.
  

  • Time Spent Fees - Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102(10)(b)(iii) requests that take longer than 2 hours of an employee's time to gather and/or copy documents will be charged based on the associated employee's hourly rate.
  • Redaction Fees - Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102(10)(b)(ii) requests containing nonpublic information will have the nonpublic information redacted. Public records are reviewed for redactions. This process may include the use of the college's legal counsel. The requester will be charged for the service based on legal counsel's hourly rate.
  • Paper Copy Fees - Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102(10)(b)(i) requests resulting in more than 100 pages of printed records will be charged $0.10 per page. There is no charge for electronic records.

  
  

  Note: All requests made to NIC may themselves be subject to release as a public record.

  Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-120, requests for information may NOT be used for any commercial purpose or as a mailing list.

  Fees
  Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102 (10), NIC will conduct the first two hours of labor to process this request free of charge. After the first two hours, the following labor fees may be charged:

  Employee labor	$60 (or less depending on employee's hourly rate)
  Legal Review	$200

• Frequently Asked Questions

  Can you keep my request for records confidential?
  No, your public records request is not a confidential record. Your request is itself a public record. It can be requested by others and the office forwards public records requests to the departments holding records and to third parties who have an interest in the records you have requested.

  
  

  What happens when I make a public records request?
  The request is received by the Chief Communications and Government Relations officer or her designee, who will then collect all responsive documents and return them to you.
  Exceptions:

  • Some documents are exempt from public records
  • If the collection of documents takes more than 2 labor hours you may incur a fee

  
  

  What information is exempt from Public Records Requests?
  Certain personnel records, FERPA protected documents, medical records, confidential legal advice, records prepared in connection with litigation, and information that may be kept confidential pursuant to other state or federal statutes.

  
  

  What should my request include?
  It is helpful to be as specific as possible by including date parameters, type of information sought, department name or unit and/or name of employee.

  
  

  Can I drop in to inspect the records that I want?
  There is no public counter service for on-demand, same day public records inspections; nor does the law require such a public counter. Identification and collection of potentially responsive records are only some of the steps involved in responding to requests. The collected records must be reviewed to ensure that they are in fact responsive to the request and to assess whether they are subject to redaction to protect the privacy rights of others and consistent with applicable legal privileges & exemptions. Each of the steps in the process takes time. When records requests are available for release, we will contact you. If you prefer to inspect the records before paying for physical copies, we are happy to set up a mutually convenient time for such an inspection.

  
  

  What are examples of records that could be included in a request?
  

  • Written documents (e.g., notes taken during a staff meeting)
  • Email (even if sent from a personal computer or phone as long as it relates to NIC business)
  • Sound recordings
  • Photographs
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • Text messages (regardless of where the text originated, as long as it relates to NIC business)

  
  

  Can a request be rejected for being "overboard" or for lacking specificity?
  No. As long as the person making the request provides enough information for NIC to identify the records, NIC is obligated to furnish copies or allow the inspection of the records requested. However, a fee may be assessed if it takes NIC more than 2 labor hours to gather all of the documents.

  
  

  Is NIC required to create records that do not exist in order to comply with a public request?
  No. In response to a public request, we are only responsible for providing existing documents and records that are maintained by NIC.