The Idaho Department of Lands received 683 public records requests in 2014, department Director Tom Schultz told lawmakers today. Of those, 42 percent drew responses within one business day. The average response time was less than three business days, which is within the Idaho Public Records Law’s requirement of a three-day response. Schultz said 92 percent of the requests the department received came to the Boise office and the Mica Area Office in Coeur d’Alene, and the top subject areas were cottage site appraisals, encroach permits (such as dock permits), and oil and gas regulatory issues.

Schultz is requesting a $100,000 boost next year to the department’s records management system, including $20,000 from the state general fund, to allow records to be retrieved more efficiently. Gov. Butch Otter is recommending $80,000 for that, none of it from the general fund. The improvements would include consulting work and new shelving, modeled after the Idaho Historical Society’s records management system.