[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Kensington 10-16-1974 by resolution. Section 125-5 amended at time of adoption
of code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. Other amendments noted
where applicable.]
The Board of Trustees promulgates this set of rules in accordance
with Chapter 578 of the Laws of 1974 and subsequent amendments thereto.
The Village Clerk is hereby designated as the records access
officer of the Village of Kensington, including all agencies of the
municipality.
Persons seeking public records shall make application to the
records access officer upon the application form supplied by such
officer, in the event such records are not readily available.
The records access officer is hereby directed to make available
to persons requesting records those public records which, by law,
are required to be made available for public inspection and copying.
In the event the request for public records interferes with the operation
of the office of the Village Clerk and makes it difficult for members
of the public to receive the regular services of the Village Clerk,
the records access officer is hereby authorized to establish hours
during each day when he shall process requests for records, including
the times when such requests shall be made in order to enable him
to find the records for review and copying. The times so established
by the records access officer shall be conspicuously posted in the
office of the Village Clerk.
The records access officer is authorized to copy any records
which are within the purview of the law and to charge the fees authorized
by the Public Officers Law § 87, Subdivision 1(b)iii. No
records shall be reproduced until payment is first received.
No records shall be removed from the lawful custody of any public
office charged with the duty of maintaining such records.
In the event any requests cannot be met because such records
are being used for current working purposes, the applicant shall be
advised of such fact and every effort will be made to arrange a specific
time when such records will be available.
In the event a question arises as to the nature of the records
in that public viewing of such records may result in an unwarranted
invasion of a citizen's personal privacy or may result in a disclosure
of material that must be confidential to promote effective law enforcement
or for any other reason which, in the opinion of the records access
officer, is valid to promote the public interest while consistent
with the new law, the records access officer shall confer with the
Village Attorney before determining if such records shall be made
available for inspection.
In the event any person is denied access to any public records
in violation of the law, that person shall advise the Board of Trustees
of such denial in writing and set forth the records requested, the
reason for denial and the fact that the fees for such records were,
in fact, tendered.
These regulations shall be temporary and considered as such
until the state guidelines are promulgated and until more comprehensive
regulations can be prepared.
The purpose of such regulations shall be to maintain the spirit
of the law and to recognize that the concept of open records is consistent
with the purpose of this Board of Trustees.
