PROVIDENCE — While some legislators are trying to make government records more accessible, the state Department of Transportation may be working in the opposite direction.

The agency has begun insisting that people wanting access to the agency’s records submit a written form to get them. The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, however, says the form’s requirements are misleading, inaccurate and in conflict with the state Open Records Law.

That law is intended “to facilitate public access to public records.” Last week, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on legislation that would reduce the amount of time government agencies have to respond to information requests and increase the fines agencies would have to pay for violations.

The DOT’s form, available on its Web site, asks for name, address and telephone number, what records are sought and whether they would be used to sue the DOT. It specifies costs, but leaves out some provisions.

The ACLU affiliate’s executive director, Steven Brown, says the form is flawed in several ways.

The law forbids requiring written requests for “documents prepared for or readily available to the public,” but Brown said the public can’t get records from the DOT without filing one.

The form says it costs 15 cents per page for copies plus $15 per hour for searching and copying. Brown said that’s misleading, because the law also says — in the same sentence that sets the $15-per-hour fee — that “no costs shall be charged for the first hour of a search or retrieval.” The form doesn’t mention that.

He also challenged the requirement that record-seekers say whether they plan to sue the DOT, because the law says that records can’t be withheld “based on the purpose for which the records are sought.”

Brown also faulted the DOT for demanding the name, address and phone number of anyone asking for records, saying that some might want confidentiality and could pick them up at the agency.

In a response to the ACLU objections, DOT Director Jerome F. Williams largely stood his ground. He conceded only one point, saying he’ll make the name and address requirement optional.

He said the DOT insists on the form “for convenience in tracking requests” and because “it is customary” at the agency to do it that way. He also said that other state agencies, including the Department of Administration and the attorney general’s office, use similar forms. (The attorney general is responsible for enforcing the Open Records Law.)

Williams said the department should be able to ask about potential lawsuits because if a dispute is in court the records might be protected from disclosure. He also said that the DOT “routinely” waives the fee for the first hour spent retrieving records.

blandis@projo.com