The Complainant alleged the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation ("Corporation") violated the APRA when its pre-payment estimate was unreasonable. This Department concluded that the Corporation's response to the APRA request, as well as the affidavit submitted by the Corporation, conclusively established that the pre-payment fee charged by the Corporation complied with R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-4(b). The Corporation's response conveyed that it would take an estimated sixteen (16) hours to search and retrieve all responsive documents and an estimated four (4) hours to review and redact responsive documents. The APRA expressly permits the Corporation to charge for pre-payment for time spent searching, retrieving and redacting responsive documents. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-4(b). See APRA Watch v. City of Providence, PR 17-46; Nye v. City of Warwick, PR 17-48.
