April 12, 1977

Mr. Clyde E. Saukerson 
Deputy State's Attorney 
Davison County Courthouse 
Mitchell, South Dakota 57301

Official Opinion No. 77-28

Fee for reproduction of financing statement (SDCL 57-38-30)

Dear Mr. Saukerson:

You have requested an interpretation of SDCL 57-38-30 which provides: 
    
Upon request of any person, the filing officer shall issue his certificate showing whether there is on file on the date and hour stated therein, any presently effective financing statement naming a particular debtor and any statement of assignment thereof and if there is, giving the date and hour of filing of each such statement and the names and addresses of each secured party therein.  The uniform fee for such a certificate shall be four dollars.  Upon request the filing officer shall furnish a copy of any filed financing statement or statement of assignment for a uniform fee of fifty cents per page.  When a nonstandard form is presented for a request for filing information an additional charge of four dollars shall be made.

The specific question you have asked is whether a requesting party may receive only a copy of a financing statement at fifty cents per page, or whether the four dollar fee for a certificate is also required to be collected.

As a general rule of statutory construction, every part of a statute must be construed with reference to the whole so as to make it harmonious and sensible.  State v. Johnson, 23 S.D. 293, 121 N.W. 785.

SDCL 57-38-30 provides for the furnishing to the public of information from filed financing statements and charging a fee therefor.  Several alternatives are presented.  First, a person may request a certified document containing certain information from a financing statement or statement of assignment.  Second, a person may receive a “copy” of any filed financing statement or assignment.  In the first instance the fee is our dollars, and in the latter fifty cents per page.

In my opinion, the above provisions of SDCL 57-38-30 should be interpreted as severable.  A person is entitled to either a certified copy or merely a photostatic copy of a financing statement.  If the intent of the law was to require a person to receive and pay for both documents it is my opinion that the statute would have been worded conjunctively.

However, it is also my opinion that the filing officer is entitled to charge the four dollar fee if a party requests only a copy but does not furnish the necessary information which would enable the filing officer to immediately locate that document in the debtor index file (SDCL 57-38-15).  In other words, it is my understanding that the four dollar fee is basically a “search fee” for the time and effort expended by the filing officer in securing the data for the informational request.

Therefore, if a party requests a “copy” without furnishing the data which would be contained in the certificate of information, he is in effect requiring the filing officer to conduct the search in order to locate the specific document or documents.  For this service, the four dollar fee plus the fifty cent per page copying charge is appropriate.

The answer to your question is yes.

Respectfully submitted,

William J. Janklow
Attorney General

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