Public Records Fee Waiver Language Builder

When to Request a Fee Waiver

Almost every state and the federal government provide some mechanism for reducing or eliminating fees when the public interest outweighs the cost of disclosure. You should always include fee waiver language in your initial request if any of the following apply:

• You plan to share the information publicly (website, social media, community meeting, publication)
• You are a journalist covering a matter of public concern
• You are conducting academic or policy research
• You represent a nonprofit with a civic or public interest mission
• You are a private citizen investigating how your government operates
• You genuinely cannot afford the fees

The key legal standard in most states: the disclosure must primarily benefit the public — not the requester's private commercial interest.

States With No Statutory Fee Waiver

A few states do not provide a statutory fee waiver mechanism:

• West Virginia — No fee waiver provision in the FOIA statute
• Minnesota — Fees must reflect actual costs; no public interest waiver required
• Arkansas — Fee waivers not expressly authorized by statute

In these states, you can still ask for a fee waiver as a matter of agency discretion — some agencies will grant them voluntarily. But you cannot legally compel a waiver in these jurisdictions.

Federal FOIA Fee Categories

Federal FOIA has a formal three-tier fee structure based on requester category:

For federal requests, your requester category determines your base fee structure before any waiver request. Select "Federal (FOIA)" and your category in the tool above to get the appropriate language.