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Steamboat Springs — In an attempt to set the record straight, I feel compelled to respond to the recent Question of the Week in the Steamboat Pilot & Today and the editorial the Aug. 8 edition of the Steamboat Today.

First, the Question of the Week: "Was Routt County Clerk Kay Weinland right to raise other fees to offset a new bill reducing the charge for copying public records to no more than 25 cents per page?" is not only misleading but is just plain not true. The fees in the Clerk and Recorder's Office were not raised to offset the reduction in copy fees due to Senate Bill 07-45. The only fee increase is for copies of plat maps, to cover the actual cost of this service. A postage fee for copies being mailed was added to cover costs.

Second, the access to public records in the Clerk and Recorder's Office is free to the public. It is only when a copy is requested that there is any charge. The fee per page for the copies has been set by statute for 44 years without any change. During the past legislative session, the United Press Association sponsored a bill to reduce the fee from $1.25 per page to 25 cents per page for copies of public records. The comparison of getting a copy in my office to purchasing a copy at Kinko's fails to recognize that my office spends a great deal of time assisting the public to locate and retrieve documents, while Kinko's does not do this. The research and retrieval of these records is, many times, very time consuming. The cost of our services for copying as well as locating and retrieving documents must be covered somehow. I believe it is more appropriate that those requesting the service pay the cost rather than the general taxpayers.

Kay Weinland

Routt County Clerk and Recorder