The cost of government transparency? It's not free

Cody Olsen Jun 16, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

Republish Article

You can republish articles in print or online. Simply copy the HTML below, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline, and credit to Cascade PBS. Republishing of the photos or videos embedded in an article can occur only if the photo or video is a copyright of Cascade Public Media ("CPM") and not of a third party. Photos and videos that are a copyright of CPM are not required to appear in the republished article, but if they are used, they must be embedded where they appear in the original article and must include the attribution to the CPM photographer.

You may reprint in any medium
You may edit only for tense and timeliness
If republishing in print you can edit for length if you follow our print republishing guidelines.
You may write your own headline
Include a byline and shirttail with credit and link to Cascade PBS
Include our tracking pixel
Remove if we ask

          <article>
            <header>
              <hgroup>
                <h1>The cost of government transparency? It's not free</h1>
                <h2><p>How easily can the public view government documents? Maybe not as easily as you think. As The Olympian reports, government agencies in Washington and other states can charge fees for a number of things related to public records requests,  including searching for records, making copies and the time spent looking</p></h2>
              </hgroup>
               <p>By <a href="/author/codyolsen0-gmail-com/">Cody Olsen</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
            </header>
            <p>How easily can the public view government documents? Maybe not as easily as you think. As <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/static/features/sunshine/Sunshine-Access.html?brand=oly&ref=cascadepbs.org">The Olympian reports</a>, government agencies in Washington and other states can charge fees for a number of things related to public records requests,  including searching for records, making copies and the time spent looking at them.</p><p>“It’s incredibly easy for an agency that doesn’t want certain records to be exposed to impose fees in the hopes that the requester is dissuaded,” said Adam Marshall, a fellow with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.</p><p>The article highlighted a few such instances around the country, including the time Kansas' Office of the Governor told The Wichita Eagle it would have to pay $1,235 to view emails between his office and a former chief of staff, now a prominent lobbyist.</p>
          </article>

How easily can the public view government documents? Maybe not as easily as you think. As The Olympian reports, government agencies in Washington and other states can charge fees for a number of things related to public records requests, including searching for records, making copies and the time spent looking at them.

“It’s incredibly easy for an agency that doesn’t want certain records to be exposed to impose fees in the hopes that the requester is dissuaded,” said Adam Marshall, a fellow with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The article highlighted a few such instances around the country, including the time Kansas' Office of the Governor told The Wichita Eagle it would have to pay $1,235 to view emails between his office and a former chief of staff, now a prominent lobbyist.

Our members' donations make local journalism happen.

Support once for $1

Support monthly for $7

Cascade PBS Passport
Mossback members-only newsletter
Print Viewer Guide (opt-in)

Support monthly for $25

Invitation to quarterly news and original programming video conference
Annual in-person meet-up with news & programming teams
Special event perks (reduced price or free tickets, cocktails, etc.)

Continue