A.
All books, maps, papers, accounts, statements, vouchers
and other documents acquired or produced in any municipal department
shall be carefully and conveniently filed, kept and preserved and
be and remain the sole property of the municipality and shall not
at any time be removed from the offices of a department except when
required for use in the official business of the municipality and
shall be returned to such office without delay. Each municipal officer
shall be responsible for assuring that the requirements of this section
are complied with in respect to his particular office. This section
shall be subject to the provisions of the Destruction of Public Records
Law (1953) (N.J.S.A. 47:3-15 et seq.).
B.
All public documents and records of the municipality
shall, during office hours, be open to public search, inspection and
examination, subject to and within the limitations prescribed by law.
Upon the termination of the term of office or
the employment of any officer or employee, he shall forthwith deliver
to his successor or, if there is no successor, to the Clerk or other
person who may be designated by Council to receive the same all moneys,
papers, books, memoranda, accounts and any data of any nature whatever
pertaining to his office.
The public administrative and executive business
offices of the municipality shall be open for transaction of public
business daily, except Saturdays and Sundays and legal holidays, between
such hours as the Mayor may prescribe with the approval of the Council,
except as otherwise provided by law. All departments in times of emergency
shall provide municipal services for work on any day or days whenever
the Mayor determines that a public exigency or emergency so requires.[1]
