(1) Acknowledging receipt of request. The agency will respond to a request within five business days of receipt, by:

(a) Providing the record(s);

(b) Providing an internet address and link to the record(s) on the agency web site;

(c) Acknowledging that the agency has received the request, asking for clarification to the extent the request is unclear, and providing a reasonable estimate of the time the agency will require to respond to the request if not clarified; or

(d) Denying the public record request.

(2) Requests for clarification. In acknowledging receipt of a public record request that is unclear, the agency may ask the requestor to clarify what information the requestor is seeking.

(3) Additional time. Additional time required to respond to a request may be based upon the following:

(a) The need to clarify the intent of the request;

(b) The need to locate and assemble the information requested;

(c) The need to notify third persons or agencies affected by the request; or

(d) The need to determine whether any of the information requested is exempt and that a denial should be made as to all or part of the request.

(4) Processing requests. The agency will process requests in the order in which they are received. The agency may modify this approach as necessary to ensure that requests that seek larger volumes of records, require closer review, or are otherwise more time consuming, do not unreasonably delay simpler, more routine requests.

(5) Providing records in installments.

(a) The agency may elect to provide responsive records on a partial or installment basis when:

(i) It appears that the number of records responsive to a request may be large; or

(ii) The process of locating, assembling, or reviewing the records may be lengthy.

(b) The agency has no obligation to locate and assemble records responsive to a subsequent installment until the previous installment has been claimed or inspected.

(6) Providing electronic records.

(a) When electronic records are requested, the agency will provide:

(i) The nonexempt records or portions of such records that are reasonably locatable in an electronic format that is used by the agency and is generally commercially available; or

(ii) At the agency's discretion, in a format that is reasonably translatable from the format in which the agency keeps the records.

(b) The agency is under no obligation to convert electronic records to a specific format identified by the requestor.

(c) When metadata is requested, the agency will provide the records in a native file format that preserves metadata where technically feasible. Metadata may be unavailable for records that require conversion to a nonnative format in order to apply exemptions.

(7) Completion of inspection or disclosure. When the inspection or disclosure of the requested records is complete and all requested copies are provided, the public records officer or designee will indicate that the agency has completed a reasonable search for the requested records and made any located nonexempt records available for inspection or disclosure.

(8) Closing withdrawn or abandoned requests. The public records officer or designee will close a request and indicate to the requestor that the agency has closed the request when:

(a) The requestor withdraws the request;

(b) The requestor fails to clarify a request within ten business days after being asked to clarify the information the requestor is seeking;

(c) The requestor fails to comply with the agency's guidelines for inspecting public records;

(d) The requestor fails to pay any copying or other charges; or

(e) The requestor fails to claim or inspect an installment within ten business days after the public records officer or designee provides notice of the installment's availability.