Cal. Pub. Records Research, Inc. v. Cnty. of Alameda

*802 We consider a county's exercise of its statutorily delegated discretion to set fees for copies of official records. Government Code section 27366 provides that the fee "shall be set ... in an amount necessary to recover the direct and indirect costs of providing the product or service." 1 In 2010, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors (the County) adopted an ordinance charging $3.50 per page for copies of official records from the Clerk-Recorder's Office. In 2014, California Public Records Research, Inc. (CPRR) filed a petition for a writ of mandate under Code of Civil Procedure section 1085 arguing the fee violated section 27366. In 2017, the trial court granted the petition.

In these consolidated appeals, the County challenges the order granting the petition, the court's subsequent issuance of a preliminary injunction against *803 the County, and its award of attorney fees to CPRR. We reverse the order granting the petition. First, CPRR fails to establish the County's calculation of recoverable "indirect costs" violates section 27366. Second, the County did not act arbitrarily, capriciously, or otherwise abuse its discretion when it determined that charging $3.50 per…