Fees considered for accident reports

The Transportation and Telecommunications Committee heard testimony Feb. 5 on a bill that would allow law enforcement agencies to charge for copies of accident reports prepared by peace officers.

LB624, introduced by Omaha Sen. Pete Pirsch, would allow law enforcement agencies to charge a flat rate of up to $15 for accident reports.

Pirsch said the bill would enable cities to continue to provide the service while placing a reasonable cap on such fees.

Lincoln’s public safety director Tom Casady testified in support of the bill. He said a $15 fee must be implemented to offset the costs of investigating an accident. Budget setbacks have resulted in reductions in public safety resources, he said, so accident reports would not be available without a fee.

Ron Murtaugh, chief of the Ralston Police Department, testified in support of the bill, saying that cities incur costs for conducting investigations and maintaining records. The majority of requests for reports come from third party vendors that have no community ties and profit from such information, he said.

Korby Gilbertson of Media of Nebraska, Inc. testified in opposition to the bill. The $15 fee would be in excess of the actual cost of conducting investigations, she said, so it would violate the underlying principle of public records being available to the public.

Matt Lathrop of the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys also testified in opposition to the bill, saying the fees are not uniform across the state and many clients cannot afford to pay a fee for their records.

“The costs being assigned for the reports have nothing to do with presenting the reports,” Lathrop said. “[Cities] may be asking the citizens to make up for budget shortfalls in other areas,” Lathrop said.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.