I spent an hour looking for the requested records, but there is nothing matching the request. Can I charge the requesting party for my time searching?

No. Since you do not have the records, you did not grant the request, so cannot charge for your time. 

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1. Can a FOIA request be verbal?
2. Does our office need to send all FOIA requests to the County Administrator/FOIA Coordinator?
3. What if our office receives a request that appears to need information from more than just our office?
4. I've received a request for the information to be provided on a thumb drive/CD/Emailed instead of paper copies. Do I have to provide it on the media they have requested?
5. Can I request a down-payment before I grant the request?
6. It only took me 5 minutes to find and copy the requested information. Can I charge for those 5 minutes?
7. The County has fees for copying that were established by the Board of Commissioners. Can I charge those rates instead of the rates under FOIA?
8. If I double-sided copies, can I charge a copy fee for each side?
9. What do I do with the payment I receive for the FOIA request?
10. What does it mean "failure to charge the fee would result in unreasonably high costs to the county"?
11. I spent an hour looking for the requested records, but there is nothing matching the request. Can I charge the requesting party for my time searching?
12. How long do I need to keep copies of the request and response?