Can a North Dakota school district tell a requester that future board-email searches may carry a fee after it spent over two hours on a request?

Plain-English summary

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley concluded that the Mandan Public School District (MPS) did not violate the state's open records law on either issue Jordan raised. MPS supplied two emails outside the requested date range and told her no other responsive emails existed. The district had more than 5,000 staff and student accounts, but the opinion does not say it searched all of them. MPS said it spent over two hours responding and warned that future board-email requests would carry a $25 charge in advance. The AG found no violation in telling Jordan that future requests would be subject to legally allowable fees. The statute permits a search fee of up to $25 per hour after the first hour if locating records takes more than one hour.

MPS ultimately provided the records for free despite the time it took, and the AG found no further corrective steps were needed.

What this means for you

School districts and other public entities that field time-consuming records requests

The opinion found no violation where MPS provided emails outside Jordan's date range and told her no other responsive emails existed. It also found no violation in informing Jordan of legally allowable fees for future requests. The opinion evaluates that notice; it does not assess a later fee or approve charging a flat amount without regard to the search time allowed by statute.

People submitting open records requests to North Dakota public entities

The opinion quotes a fee limit of $25 per hour after the first hour when locating records takes more than one hour. It also quotes the rule allowing an entity to treat five or more requests from the same person within seven days as one request for calculating search time. MPS provided Jordan's records without charging her, then told her future board-email requests could carry a fee.

Government attorneys advising on records-fee policies

The AG said that informing a requester that future requests would be subject to legally allowable charges was not a threat. The opinion describes a notice after MPS had already provided the requested emails at no charge; it does not decide a dispute over a fee actually assessed on a later request.

Common questions

Q: Can a North Dakota public entity charge for searching for records? A: Yes. The opinion confirms an entity may charge up to $25 per hour, not counting the first hour, when locating records (including electronic records) takes more than an hour.

Q: Is it retaliation for an agency to warn a requester about future fees? A: The AG said MPS's notice of legally allowable charges for future requests was not a threat. The opinion does not address a later fee actually imposed or a retaliation claim based on other conduct.

Q: What if the records provided don't exactly match the time period I asked for? A: Based on this opinion, that alone is not a violation if the entity also confirms that no other responsive records exist for the period you actually requested.

Q: Can multiple requests from the same person be combined for fee purposes? A: Yes. The opinion notes that if a public entity receives five or more requests from the same requester within seven days, it may treat them as one request when calculating the time spent locating records.

Background and statutory framework

North Dakota's open records law requires a public entity to furnish requested public records upon request, but does not require it to create or compile a record that does not exist, and when issuing an opinion on an alleged violation, the Attorney General bases the opinion on the facts the public entity provides. The law separately allows an entity to charge a search fee of up to $25 per hour (excluding the first hour) when locating records takes more than an hour, and permits withholding records pending payment of any outstanding balance from prior requests.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18, general open records access requirement
• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(1), records open and accessible except as otherwise provided by law
• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2), duty to furnish a copy of requested public records
• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(4), no obligation to create or compile a record that does not exist
• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1(1), AG opinions based on facts provided by the public entity
• N.D.C.C. §§ 15.1-07-01, 15.1-09-33, 44-04-17.1(13)(b), school districts as public entities subject to the open records law

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/the-north-dakota-attorney-general-issued-an-opinion-to-the-mandan-public-school-district/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-O-14.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
www.attorneygeneral.nd.gov
(701) 328-2210

Drew H. Wrigley
ATTORNEY GENERAL

OPEN RECORDS AND MEETINGS OPINION
2026-O-14

DATE ISSUED: June 29, 2026

ISSUED TO: Mandan Public School District

CITIZEN'S REQUEST FOR OPINION

Karen Jordan requested an opinion from this office under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1 asking whether the Mandan Public School District violated N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18 by providing records not responsive to her request, and by requiring an unlawful fee be paid before future requests are made.

FACTS PRESENTED

Rick Horn is the owner of HJL Management Company, which has a contract with the Morton County Housing Authority to provide management services. 1 He is also a member of the Mandan Public School Board. 2 On June 20, 2023, Ms. Jordan emailed Rick Horn for "the last email [he] received that can be released that shows all the email addresses of all members of the [Mandan Public School District] Board." 3 Less than ten hours later, Mr. Horn replied, "[o ]ur practice is for all email requests to go through the Mandan School District office. Please contact Dr. Bitz at the Mandan District Office with your request." 4 Ms. Jordan responded to Mr. Horn, arguing that he had an obligation to personally go through his records to find the record that she requested. 5

Ms. Jordan then followed up and told Mr. Horn, "[w]hat I'm asking for now is a copy of an email sent to [Mr. Horn's HJL Management Company's email address] this year by anyone connected to the Mandan Public School District." 6 Mr. Horn contacted Dr. Mike Bitz, Superintendent of Mandan Public School District (MPS) to respond on behalf of MPS. 7 Between staff and students,

1 Letter from Dr. Mike Bitz, Superintendent, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist., to Annique M. Lockard, Assistant Att'y Gen., Off. of Att'y Gen. (Nov. 27, 2023). 2 Id. 3 Email from Karen Jordan to Rick Horn, Member, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist. Bd. (June 20, 2023,

10:41 PM).
4 Email from Rick Horn, Member, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist. Bd., to Karen Jordan (June 21, 2023, 8:28 AM). 5 Email from Karen Jordan to Rick Horn, Member, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist. Bd. (June 21, 2023,

8:12 PM).
6 Email from Karen Jordan to Rick Horn, Member, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist. Bd. (June 25, 2023, 10:46 PM). 7 Email from Dr. Mike Bitz, Superintendent, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist., to Karen Jordan (June 27,

2023, 1:42 PM).

OPEN RECORDS AND MEETINGS OPINION 2026-O-14
June 29, 2026
Page 2

MPS has "over 5,000 accounts." 8 Dr. Bitz contacted the technology department to conduct a search of the account resulting in two responsive emails. 9

Through further email correspondence to Dr. Bitz, Ms. Jordan asked "for the last email that [he] sent to Mr. Horn." 10 Dr. Bitz provided the responsive document to Ms. Jordan on June 30, 2023. 11 Dr. Bitz also stated "[s]ince we have spent over 2 hours in trying to answer your open records requests, we will need to charge you $25 in advance for any future requests concerning board members [sic] emails." 12

Ms. Jordan timely filed a request with this Office for an opinion about her records requests. The request for an opinion was explicitly made "against Superintendent Mike Bitz." 13 Therefore, this office will not address Mr. Horn's initial response to her. Ms. Jordan has also requested an opinion from this office regarding the response to her records request from the Morton County Housing Authority, which is being addressed in a separate opinion. 14

ISSUE

1. Whether MPS violated N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18 by providing records not responsive to Ms.
   Jordan's request for emails sent from district affiliated accounts to a specific email address.

2. Whether MPS violated N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2) by informing Ms. Jordan that MPS would
   charge her $25 in advance of any future records requests relating to board member emails.

ANALYSIS
Issue One

MPS is a public entity subject to the open records law. 15 "Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all records of a public entity are public records, open and accessible for inspection during reasonable office hours." 16 "Upon request for a copy of specific public records
[a public entity] shall furnish the requester one copy of the public records requested." 17 An entity

8 Id
9 Id.
10 Email from Karen Jordan to Dr. Mike Bitz, Superintendent, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist. (June 27,

2023, 8:24 PM).
11 Email from Dr. Mike Bitz, Superintendent, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist., to Karen Jordan (June 30,

2023, 10:34 PM).
12 Id.
13 Email from Karen Jordan to Off. of Att'y Gen. (July 26, 2023, 11:03 PM). 14 N.D.A.G. 2026-O-13. 15 N.D.C.C. §§ 15.1-07-01, 15.1-09-33, 44-04-17.1(13)(b). 16 N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(1). 17 N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2).

OPEN RECORDS AND MEETINGS OPINION 2026-O-14
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Page 3

is not required to "create or compile a record that does not exist." 18 When issuing opinions on potential open record violations, "the attorney general shall base the opinion on the facts given by the public entity." 19

Dr. Bitz provided Ms. Jordan two emails that were sent from any MPS address to Mr. Horn's company email. 20 MPS was not required to provide these records as they fell outside the time range that Ms. Jordan requested. However, the email from Dr. Bitz is clear that no other emails existed which were sent to Mr. Horn's email account. It is my opinion that MPS complied with N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18 by providing records sent to Mr. Horn's email account and by informing Ms. Jordan that no other emails were sent to that address.

Issue Two

"An entity may impose a fee not exceeding twenty-five dollars per hour per request, excluding the initial hour, for locating records, including electronic records, if locating the records requires more than one hour." 21 "If a public entity receives five or more requests from the same requester within seven days, the public entity may treat the requests as one request in computing the time it takes to locate and excise the records." 22 "The public entity may withhold records pursuant to the request until such time as a requester provides payment for any outstanding balance for prior requests. " 23

MPS provided the requested emails to Ms. Jordan at no charge even though it took more than two hours of work to find the responsive records. After telling Ms. Jordan his understanding of the allowable charges by law, Dr. Bitz told Ms. Jordan that any future requests that she would make regarding school board member emails would be subject to a $25.00 fee in advance. 24 The open records law allows public entities to charge up to $25 per hour after the first initial hour for searching for records. 25 It is my opinion that MPS did not violate the open records law when it informed Ms. Jordan that it would charge the legally permissible amount for future requests.

18 N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(4).
19 N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1(1).
20 Letter from Dr. Mike Bitz, Superintendent, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist., to Annique M. Lockard,

Assistant Att'y Gen., Off. of Att'y Gen. (Nov. 27, 2023).
21 N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2).
22 Id.
23 Id.
24 Email from Dr. Mike Bitz, Superintendent, Mandan Pub. Sch. Dist., to Karen Jordan (June 30, 2023, 10:34 PM). 25 N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2).

OPEN RECORDS AND MEETINGS OPINION 2026-O-14
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Page 4

CONCLUSIONS

1. MPS did not violate N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18 by providing records beyond the time period
   requested when it also communicated that no other records were responsive to Ms. Jordan's request.

2. MPS did not violate N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2) by informing Ms. Jordan that it would
   charge her $25 in advance of any future records requests. It is not a threat to inform a requester that any future requests will be subject to the legally allowable charges found in N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18(2).

STEPS NEEDED TO REMEDY VIOLATION

Mandan Public School District has already provided the requested records at no cost to Ms. Jordan, so no further steps are required to remedy the violation.

Drew H. Wrigley
Attorney General

wdw

cc: Karen Jordan