(1) Pursuant to Article II, section 9, of the Montana Constitution, and 2-6-102, MCA, government documents may be examined and copies provided to the public, with a few exceptions where privacy concerns outweigh the public's right to know.

(a) This rule pertains to documents and electronic and nonprint records made available or copied pursuant to the public's right to know.

(b) Fees charged for other services provided by the Secretary of State's office are not affected by this rule.

(2) Documents in the Secretary of State's office are available for public inspection between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

(3) There is no charge for examination of documents.

(4) The Secretary of State will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a staff person must be present to observe and supervise the examination of documents and whether documents can be removed from the office.

(5) Requests to examine and/or for copies of documents will be processed and completed as soon as possible depending on the workload and availability of staff.

(6) A Secretary of State staff person will provide the copies requested utilizing office equipment and resources.

(7) The Secretary of State will determine the form in which a copy will be provided, i.e., certain election records will only be provided as digital images on a compact disk.

(8) The following fees will be charged for copies of documents:

(a) Photocopies, $.50 per page;

(b) Digital images provided on a compact disk, $.15 per page.

(9) Fees charged for electronic information and nonprint records will be determined on a case-by-case basis pursuant to 2-6-110, MCA.