UNO is trying to cover up information by charging enormous fees associated with FOIA requests. Average Joe Blow citizen cannot afford to make simple information requests.

My original simple request was denied, would have taken 5 minutes to compile into a dozen page printout, but in order for me to get the information I wanted I had to go all out and was quoted at over $400.00 to get it.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and Assistant Attorney General Dale Comer are siding with the government on this one. They are allowing UNO to charge these "Extraction", "Assemble" and "Duplication" fees PLUS $.25 per page for scanning. The labor rates as follows: $19.675, $51.71 and $54.596. You should know that UNO is not paperless, but for some reason they have to make copies in order to scan them, that is redundantly redundant.

I know of another FOIA request that occurred in July at UNO by a major law firm. The FOIA request had approximately 25 categories, the first was "(a)ll communications, including e-mails and text messages, by or between agents or representatives of the University of Nebraska at Omaha ('UNO') regarding the potential or actual elimination of the football or wrestling programs, from April 2009 to the present." Their FOIA request was quoted at over $10,000. I am not sure of the status of their request, but it is a dozy, but with the Attorney General on their side UNO is strutting like the cock of the walk.

Your freedoms are eroding away right before your very eyes.

Maybe this information to get to the media. I wonder how much of a difference this would make if this was known by the public.

Time to revisit this on the talk shows. This would be good follow up material for Becka.

I may be wrong on this, but I believe state law limits what a government entity can charge for such information requests.

We had a situation here recently in Wayne that required me to file an information request with the city, and it cost $1 per page.

The FOIA is a useless law if governments can charge any rediculous fee in order to meet requests for information, especially in this digital age. This point should be challenged and investigated. Any lawyers want to weigh in? Dswitz?