As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates,
the following terms mean:
COPYING
If requested by a member of the public, photocopies provided
in accord with the cost schedule established by this Article, if duplication
equipment is available.
PUBLIC BUSINESS
All matters which relate in any way to performance of the
City's functions or the conduct of its business.
PUBLIC GOVERNMENTAL BODY
Any legislative, administrative governmental entity created
by the Constitution or Statutes of this State, orders or ordinances
of the City, judicial entities when operating in an administrative
capacity, or by executive order, including:
1.
Any advisory committee or commission appointed by the Chairman
or Board of Trustees;
2.
Any other legislative or administrative governmental deliberative
body under the direction of three (3) or more elected or appointed
members having rulemaking or quasi-judicial power;
3.
Any committee appointed by or at the direction of any of the
entities and which is authorized to report to any of the above named
entities; and
4.
Any quasi-public governmental body. The term "quasi-public
governmental body" means any person, corporation or partnership
organized or authorized to do business in this State under the provisions
of Chapter 352, 353, or 355, RSMo., or unincorporated association
which either:
a.
Has as its primary purpose to enter into contracts with public
governmental bodies, or to engage primarily in activities carried
out pursuant to an agreement or agreements with public governmental
bodies; or
b.
Performs a public function, as evidenced by a statutorily or
ordinance-based capacity to confer or otherwise advance through approval,
recommendation or other means, the allocation or issuance of tax credits,
tax abatement, public debt, tax exempt debt, rights of eminent domain,
or the contracting of lease-back agreements on structures whose annualized
payments commit public tax revenues; or any association that directly
accepts the appropriation of money from the City, but only to the
extent that a meeting, record, or vote relates to such appropriation.
PUBLIC MEETING
Any meeting of a public governmental body subject to this
Chapter at which any public business is discussed, decided, or public
policy formulated, whether corporeal or by means of communication
equipment. The term "public meeting" shall not include
an informal gathering of members of a public governmental body for
ministerial or social purposes when there is no intent to avoid the
purposes of this Chapter.
PUBLIC RECORD
Any record, whether written or electronically stored, retained
by or of any public governmental body including any report, survey,
memorandum, or other document or study prepared and presented to the
public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service
paid for in whole or in part by public funds.
PUBLIC VOTE
Any vote cast at any public meeting of any public governmental
body.
In order to allow the fullest cooperation by employees and members
of the public in investigation of matters wherein an employee of the
City is alleged to have engaged in any form of misconduct, all files,
records and documents relating to investigations of allegations of
misconduct by City employees will be considered to be personnel records
and shall be closed records under the custody of the respective department
head.
Each meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible
to the public, and at a time reasonably convenient to the public,
unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible or impractical.
When it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than twenty-four (24)
hours' notice, or at a place that is not reasonably accessible to
the public, or at time that is not reasonably convenient to the public,
the nature of the good cause justifying that departure from the normal
requirements shall be stated in the minutes.
If a public record contains material which is not exempt from
disclosure, as well as material which is exempt from disclosure, the
custodian shall separate the exempt and non-exempt material and make
the non-exempt material available for examination and copying in accord
with the policies provided herein. When designing a public record
the custodian shall, to the extent practicable, facilitate a separation
of exempt from non-exempt information. If the separation is readily
apparent to a person requesting to inspect or receive copies of the
form, the custodian shall generally describe the material exempted
unless that description would reveal the contents of the exempt information
and thus defeat the purpose of the exemption.
A public governmental body or record custodian in doubt about
the legality of closing a particular meeting, record or vote may,
subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, bring suit in the Circuit
Court for the County of St. Louis to ascertain the propriety of such
action. In addition, subject to approval by the Board of Trustees,
the public governmental body or custodian may seek a formal opinion
of the Attorney General or an attorney for the City regarding the
propriety of such action. In such events, the proposed closed meeting
or public access to the record or vote shall be deferred for a reasonable
time pending the outcome of the actions so taken.
The custodian shall charge fifty cents ($.50) per page for duplication
costs and ten dollars ($10.00) per hour for document search; provided
however, that the fee for copies of bond receipts and other bond documents
of the Seneca Municipal Division and/or Seneca Police Department shall
be five dollars ($5.00) for the first (1st) page and one dollar ($1.00)
for each additional page per request and no hourly charge for document
search shall be levied for such documents. The custodian shall receive
(or may require) payment prior to duplicating any documents.
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the
following definitions:
ARREST
An actual restraint of the person of the defendant, or by
his/her submission to the custody of the officer, under authority
of a warrant or otherwise for a criminal violation which results in
the issuance of a summons or the person being booked.
ARREST REPORT
A record of a law enforcement agency of an arrest and of
any detention or confinement incident thereto together with the charge
therefor.
INACTIVE
An investigation in which no further action will be taken
by a law enforcement agency or officer for any of the following reasons:
1.
A decision by the law enforcement agency not to pursue the case.
2.
Expiration of the time to file criminal charges pursuant to
the applicable statute of limitations, or ten (10) years after the
commission of the offense, whichever date earliest occurs.
3.
Finality of the convictions of all persons convicted on the
basis of the information contained in the investigative report, by
exhaustion of or expiration of all rights of appeal of such persons.
INCIDENT REPORT
A record of a law enforcement agency consisting of the date,
time, specific location, name of the victim and immediate facts and
circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident,
including any logs of reported crimes, accidents and complaints maintained
by that agency.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
A record, other than an arrest or incident report, prepared
by personnel of a law enforcement agency, inquiring into a crime or
suspected crime, either in response to an incident report or in response
to evidence developed by law enforcement officers in the course of
their duties.
If the person arrested is charged but the case is subsequently nolle prossed or dismissed, or the accused is found not guilty, or imposition of sentence is suspended in the court in which the action is prosecuted, official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records when such case is finally terminated except that the disposition portion of the records may be accessed for purposes of exculpation and except as provided in Section
135.160.
Excepted as provided by this Section, any information acquired by the Police Department by way of a complaint or report of a crime made by telephone contact using the emergency number, "911", shall be inaccessible to the general public. However, information consisting of the date, time, specific location and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of the crime or incident shall be considered to be an incident report and subject to Section
135.140. Any closed records pursuant to this Section shall be available upon request by law enforcement agencies or the Division of Workers' Compensation or pursuant to a valid court order authorizing disclosure upon motion and good cause shown.