Our agency spends a lot of time and money on making copies of cassette tapes and photos requested for court by attorneys. Last year it used up 20% of our total property budget. Is there a way to charge attorneys who ask for the copies? 

Yes! Cost recovery laws vary from state to state. Most states can create cost recovery programs for property and evidence by following some basic guidelines. 

Property and evidence costs generated by non-agency needs usually involve: 

1. Time used by property staff while an attorney is viewing evidence. 
2. Time and equipment used for duplicating videos or cassette tapes. 
3. Time and equipment used in duplicating photographs. 

The legal right to charge for costs is normally found in state penal codes, government codes, or civil codes that permit recovery of costs.
A common example would be recovering departmental costs for investigating a drunk driver upon the drivers conviction of the crime. Other examples would be recovering costs for booking or jailing a prisoner. Applying cost recovery to evidence functions uses the same laws. 

Local Ordinances can be passed to confirm the right to recover cost.
When a state lacks specific laws that permit cost recovery, local ordinances can fill the void. The ordinance should include a fee schedule indicating the cost per hour of department employee labor and the duplication cost of photos, and or purchase of tapes or videos used in the duplication process. 

What procedure should we use? 
First decide what specific services the agency will include in the fee schedule. 

Labor is charged by the hour, with a one hour minimum. 
Instances might include: 

1. Labor (per hour or part thereof) for display of evidence on discovery motions. 

1. Labor (per hour or part thereof) for processing requests. This should be actual time billed by the hour. For example: It takes 15 minutes to transport the photos to the lab for duplication. and another 15 to pick-up the photos. the actual total time used would be 30 minutes; billed time would be one hour (the minimum charge.) If the photo lab is operated by the agency. The time for the photo lab technician would be billed also. 

1. Labor used to set-up, create and recheck copies of tapes or videos. 

What about special stock used in duplicating photographs, tapes or videos?
A growing number of agencies have begun to purchase and duplicate tapes or videos in-house. low quality tapes (either video or cassette) can damage agency equipment. Damage is done when poor quality magnetic tapes leave magnetic bits on recording heads. The result is a very low quality duplication tape and a shortened or ended life span for the recording unit. In an effort to protect duplication equipment, agencies are more commonly using their own purchased stock. Some agencies permit a tape exchange. A tape exchange is providing a copy of the duplicate video, while the defense provides a blank tape in exchange. In the event of a tape exchange, it is highly recommended that agencies set up a list of major brands of tapes that are acceptable. Using major brands reduces the risk of damage to equipment. If a tape exchange is used, no tape replacement fee should be charged. 

A deposit for estimated costs should be required prior to rendering of services. 
Charges should be, estimated in· advance. If the estimated time for viewing evidence is two hours, the requesting attorney should pay a deposit equal to two hours prior to viewing the evidence. If only one hour is used, a refund can be issued.

Advance deposits become even more important when processing involves large amounts of photographic or tape duplication.
For Example: During a pre-trial deposition involving four defendants represented by four different attorneys, copies of all photographs were ordered. Four sets of copies were made, one for each attorney. Since the copies were specifically requested to be 8x10, the total cost was $485.00 per set. In the ten days between ordering the copies and receiving the copies, the case was settled. It became an ongoing crusade for the agency to get reimbursed for the order once the case was settled. 

Charging of fees helps to reduce the property sections workload. 
An interesting side effect of charging fees is a reduction in requests to view evidence or to make duplications of tapes. Once it became known that a fee would be charged, one agency's request to view evidence dropped by 70%.

What about District Attorneys?
District attorneys work with law enforcement as does an agency attorney (ie: city or county attorneys handling civil matters for the agency.) Every effort should be made to provide the district! city! county attorney with copies of photographs or tapes as a courtesy. In cases where many copies will be required, costs can be reduced by providing the negative to the DA (while maintaining all original photos on file at the agency.) When copies of tapes are requested, provide a single duplicate copy (made on a standard size cassette) to the DA. Keep a log book of copies made for the DA. Sometimes a DA will request two or three copies of a tape. This is the first hint that the DA is providing copies to the defense at no charge. Provide the DA with a single copy - most DA offices have equipment to make additional tape copies. If the DA desires to provide copies of the tape to other parties, they can take the time to make them. 

Is a court order required to provide copies and charge fees? 
Yes and No! In most, but not all, states a subpoena or court order is normally required to obtain copies of evidence. A department policy should be developed that defines specific guidelines for providing copies of evidence to a defense attorney or insurance company. A court order is not required to charge a fee if the fee is supported by state, county, city, providence or local law. 

What accounting concerns should be addressed? 
A specific policy should be set in· place. Numbered receipts in triplicate should be used. One copy to payee (person requesting the evidence duplication), one for the property file and one for the audit account. A separate account should be set up. Either a separate bank account or a separate account in the general fund. The money should be paid to the accounts division or to administrative services (not to the property officer.) 

Giving the property officer the property file receipt should be the "ticket" to begin the process or viewing.