PUBLIC RECORDS FEES

As permitted by A.R.S. § 39-121.01(D)(1), ADOH charges a fee to cover the costs of reproduction and postage for hard copies of records being requested for non-commercial purposes. Additional charges apply to public records requested for commercial purposes, see A.R.S. § 39-121.03.

In-person review

No charge; however, an appointment must be made with the agency in order to review records. Walk-in requests without an appointment will not be honored.

Hard copies

25 cents per page; this fee covers standard mailing costs for materials weighing 13 oz. or less. If the request requires the mailing or shipping of records weighing in excess of 13 oz., the agency will notify the requester of any additional delivery fees. Additional retrieval/delivery charges apply (generally $3 per record) for records that are held offsite at the Arizona State Library and Public Records (ASLPR) facility. Once the materials identified in a public record request have been identified and gathered, a written invoice indicating fee amounts will be provided to the record requester.  Payment options are as follows:

Checks or money orders should be made payable to Arizona Department of Housing. Cash is NOT accepted.

Note: All fees must be received by the agency before the release of records.

Electronic copies

No charge if the documents are already in electronic form.  If a request is made to convert hard copies into electronic copies, the same 25 cents per page fee will be charged.  If electronic records are too large to submit through email, records may be transferred via an online document exchange service with a personalized link.  Payment options are as follows:

Checks or money orders should be made payable to Arizona Department of Housing. Cash is NOT accepted.

Note: All fees must be received by the agency before the release of records.

Website

If requested records or materials are available on the agency’s website (housing.az.gov), they will be made available to the public free of charge. The agency does not provide hard copies of materials that are already available for downloading through its website. This does not apply to requests for materials made through a reasonable accommodation request pursuant to the American Disabilities Act and similar laws.

Commercial purposes

Records requested for commercial purposes will be charged for the value of the reproduction on the commercial market, as allowed per A.R.S. 39-121.03. For more information, see page two of the Public Records Request Form.

Timing of Public Records Requests

ADOH will make every effort to provide access to and/or copies of public records in a reasonable amount of time, generally within 5 business days. However, depending on the volume or age of the records requested, more time may be required. If a request is expected to be delayed more than 5 business days, ADOH will notify the requester in writing. Delays may be caused by the amount of staff time necessary to handle large volumes of records or, if due to the age of the records, the records require off-site retrieval from the Arizona State Library and Public Records (ASLPR) facility.

When requesting large volumes of records, it is suggested that the requester make an appointment to view the records in person, if possible, prior to requesting copies. In many cases, requests for public records (and thus fees charged) can be substantially reduced if the requester has a chance to review the materials and select more specific records for copying.

Note Regarding Reports and Data

The agency frequently receives requests for reports or the compilation of data believed to be held by the agency under the guise of a public record request. It is the agency’s policy to make all public records available for inspection or copying (at a fee to the requester); however, the agency is not required to prepare documents and materials in response to a request.

Legal Review

In some cases, records may be required to undergo a legal review prior to the release or review of materials by the public in order to avoid disclosure of information protected by statute. Certain confidential personal or financial information may be redacted prior to distribution. In the event that the agency concludes that a request includes information protected from disclosure, the agency will provide a written response to the requester that identifies the materials withheld or redacted and explains why the information is protected from disclosure. Additionally, materials subject to proprietary rights or copyrighted materials, often found in housing market analysis reports, may not be available as public records due to copyright restrictions.

Payments to the Department of Housing

The Department of Housing only accepts the following payment methods. Please note cash is not an accepted form of payment.

Documents