A bill that would regulate when Nebraska cities and counties can start charging for public records requests has won first-round approval in the legislature.
Under the bill, public entities will have to work for four hours filling public record requests before they start to charge.
The bill initially proposed a 10-hour minimum.
Senators said employees in cities and counties with small staffs would exhaust resources if they had to spend that much time on public records.
Panhandle Senator Ken Schilz says that the measure wouldn't be fair for many entities subject to public records searches. Only three people serve on the board in his irrigation district.
"They volunteer for everything," says the District 47 senator. "They don't have a staff, so guess what... Somebody demands a public records search, they have to pay an attorney or somebody, an accountant or somebody to do that."
Schilz says he ultimately supports the bill if lawmakers are mindful of the cost to the public entities.
