ACLU of Nevada sues Las Vegas police over public records fees

ACLU of Nevada sues Las Vegas police over public records fees By Liam Hibbert August 6, 2026 - 6:00 am The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Police Department in Clark County District Court last week, alleging that the agency violated the Nevada Public Records Act by imposing excessive fees on records requests. The suit, joined by The Marshall Project, The Nevada Independent and Edgar Flores Law, claims Metro purposefully overcharged for access to body‑camera footage and other documents. According to the complaint, Metro quoted more than $6,800 for an ACLU request submitted in June 2025, despite listing a standard $87 hourly rate for such footage. The plaintiffs argue the charges include labor and other costs that should not be passed to requesters under state law. Samantha Kroner, ACLU of Nevada lawyer, told The Center Square, “Government agencies passim the authorities are charging these types of unlawful fees for nationalist records, and the costs are becoming much and much prohibitive,” and added, “For that crushed (we have) truly superior concerns astir authorities transparency, arsenic good arsenic the quality of the nationalist to clasp the authorities accountable – which is precisely what the Nevada Public Records Act is designed to promote.” Christopher Peterson, ACLU Legal Director, said, “We’re fortunate successful Nevada that, astatine least connected paper, determination is 1 of the strongest nationalist records acts successful the country,” and continued, “The extremity though is to marque definite that’s not conscionable ink connected a page.” The Nevada Public Records Act permits agencies to charge only the actual cost of providing copies, not to exceed that amount. Kroner warned, “The NPRA applies to the public, not conscionable the members of the nationalist that tin spend to wage thousands of dollars for these requests,” and stressed, “They are not capable to clasp the authorities accountable if they can’t entree the records, and these fees are truthful precocious that they are barring radical from that access.” Peterson also stated, “The nationalist records enactment specifically is simply a mode to debar this occupation – that we don’t person to judge the government’s connection for what happened here,” and elaborated, “We tin spot for ourselves what’s going connected here. And this litigation is not lone astur reducing costs. It’s wide astur reducing barriers and addressing those sorts of problems.” Metro did not respond to requests for comment from The Center Square. A hearing on the case is scheduled for August 20, though no further dates have been announced. The plaintiffs maintain the litigation seeks not only to lower costs but to remove barriers that impede public oversight of government actions. Read the full story at Las Vegas Review-Journal →