[RSMo. §610.010]
As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates,
the following terms mean:
COPYING
If requested by a member of the public, copies 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 or 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 Mayor
or Board of Aldermen.
2.
Any department or division of the City.
3.
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.
4.
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, any advisory committee appointed by or at the direction
of any of the named entities for the specific purpose of recommending,
directly to the public governmental body's governing board or its
Chief Administrative Officer, policy or policy revisions or expenditures
of public funds.
5.
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 pursuant to the
provisions of Chapters 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, but the term shall include a vote of all
or a majority of the members of a public governmental body, by electronic
communication or any other means, conducted in lieu of holding a public
meeting with the members of the public governmental body gathered
at one (1) location in order to conduct public business.
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. The term "public
record" shall not include any internal memorandum or letter
received or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public governmental
body consisting of advice, opinions and recommendations in connection
with the deliberative decision-making process of said body, unless
such records are retained by the public governmental body or presented
at a public meeting.
PUBLIC VOTE
Any vote cast at any public meeting of any public governmental
body.
[Ord. No. 608 §1, 8-16-2004]
A. All
meetings, records and votes are open to the public, except the governmental
body may close any meeting, record or vote relating to the following:
1. Legal actions, causes of action or litigation involving a public
governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications
between a public governmental body or its representatives and its
attorneys. However, any vote relating to litigation involving a public
governmental body shall be made public upon final disposition of the
matter voted upon; provided however, in matters involving the exercise
of the power of eminent domain, the vote shall be announced or become
public immediately following the action on the motion to authorize
institution of such a legal action. Legal work product shall be considered
a closed record.
2. Lease, purchase or sale of real estate by a public governmental body
where public knowledge of the transaction might adversely affect the
legal consideration therefore. However, any vote or public record
approving a contract relating to the lease, purchase or sale of real
estate by a public governmental body shall be made public within seventy-two
(72) hours after execution of the lease, purchase or sale of the real
estate.
3. Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting an employee of a public
governmental body. However, any vote on a final decision, when taken
by a public governmental body, to hire, fire, promote or discipline
an employee of a public governmental body must be made available to
the public with a record of how each member voted within seventy-two
(72) hours of the close of the meeting where such action occurs; provided
however, that any employee so affected shall be entitled to prompt
notice before such decision is made available to the public.
4. Non-judicial mental or physical health proceedings involving identifiable
persons, including medical, psychiatric, psychological or alcoholism
or drug dependency diagnosis or treatment.
5. Testing and examination materials, before the test or examination
is given or, if it is to be given again, before so given again.
6. Welfare cases of identifiable individuals.
7. Preparation, including any discussions or work product, on behalf
of a public governmental body or its representatives for negotiations
with employee groups.
8. Software codes for electronic data processing and documentation thereof.
9. Specifications for competitive bidding, until either the specifications
are officially approved by the public governmental body or the specifications
are published for bid.
10. Sealed bids and related documents, until the earlier of either when
the bids are opened, or all bids are accepted or all bids are rejected.
11. Individually identifiable personnel records, performance ratings
or records pertaining to employees or applicants for employment, except
that this exemption shall not apply to the names, positions, salaries
and lengths of service of officers and employees of public agencies
once they are employed as such.
12. Records that are protected from disclosure by law.
13. Meetings and public records relating to scientific and technological
innovations in which the owner has a proprietary interest.
14. Confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental
body and its auditor, including all auditor work product.
15. Operational guidelines and policies developed, adopted or maintained
by any public agency responsible for law enforcement, public safety,
first response or public health for use in responding to or preventing
any critical incident which is or appears to be terrorist in nature
and which has the potential to endanger individual or public safety
or health. Nothing in this exception shall be deemed to close information
regarding expenditures, purchases or contracts made by an agency in
implementing these guidelines or policies. When seeking to close information
pursuant to this exception, the agency shall affirmatively state in
writing that disclosure would impair its ability to protect the safety
or health of persons and shall in the same writing state that the
public interest in non-disclosure outweighs the public interest in
disclosure of the records. This exception shall sunset on December
31, 2008.
16. Existing or proposed security systems and structural plans of real
property owned or leased by a public governmental body and information
that is voluntarily submitted by a non-public entity owning or operating
an infrastructure to any public governmental body for use by that
body to devise plans for protection of that infrastructure, the public
disclosure of which would threaten public safety.
Records related to the procurement of or expenditures relating
to security systems purchased with public funds shall be open.
When seeking to close information pursuant to this exception,
the public governmental body shall affirmatively state in writing
that disclosure would impair the public governmental body's ability
to protect the security or safety of persons or real property and
shall in the same writing state that the public interest in non-disclosure
outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the records.
Records that are voluntarily submitted by a non-public entity
shall be reviewed within ninety (90) days of submission to determine
if retention of the document is necessary in furtherance of a security
interest. If retention is not necessary, the documents shall be returned
to the non-public governmental body or destroyed.
17. Records that identify the configuration of components or the operation
of a computer, computer system, computer network or telecommunications
network and would allow unauthorized access to or unlawful disruption
of a computer, computer system, computer network or telecommunications
network of a public governmental body. This exception shall not be
used to limit or deny access to otherwise public records in a file,
document, data file or database containing public records. Records
related to the procurement of or expenditures relating to such computer,
computer system, computer network or telecommunications network, including
the amount of monies paid by, or on behalf of, a public governmental
body for such computer, computer system, computer network or telecommunications
network, shall be open.
18. Credit card numbers, personal identification numbers, digital certificates,
physical and virtual keys, access codes or authorization codes that
are used to protect the security of electronic transactions between
a public governmental body and a person or entity doing business with
a public governmental body. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed
to close the record of a person or entity using a credit card held
in the name of a public governmental body or any record of a transaction
made by a person using a credit card or other method of payment for
which reimbursement is made by a 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.
[Ord. No. 800 § 1, 9-3-2013]
Because disclosure would impair the City of Foristell's
ability to protect the security or safety of persons or real property,
and because the public interest in nondisclosure outweighs the public
and private interest in disclosure under the circumstances, it is
hereby determined that all operational guidelines, policies and specific
response plans developed, adopted, or maintained by any agency, department,
board or commission of the City of Foristell responsible for law enforcement,
public safety, first response, or public health for use in responding
to or preventing any critical incident which is or appears to be terrorist
in nature and which has the potential to endanger individual or public
safety or health shall be closed records; except that financial records
related to the procurement of or expenditures relating to operational
guidelines, policies or plans purchased with public funds shall be
open records.
[Ord. No. 608 §2, 8-16-2004]
A. All
records that may be closed hereby are deemed closed records unless
the governmental body votes to make them public. Before closing a
meeting to the public, a majority of a quorum of the governmental
body must vote to do so in a public vote. The vote of each member
of the governmental body on the question of closing the meeting or
vote and the reason for closing the meeting by reference to a specific
exception shall be announced at a public meeting and entered into
the minutes.
B. The governmental body shall give notice of the time, date and place of a closed meeting and the reason for holding it by reference to a specific exception. The notice shall be the same as in Subsection
(C) below. No other business may be discussed in a closed meeting which does not directly relate to the specific reason announced to close the meeting to the public. Public governmental bodies holding a closed meeting must close only an existing portion of the meeting facility necessary to house the members of the public governmental body in the closed session, allowing members of the public to remain to attend any subsequent open session held by the public governmental body following the closed session.
C. The
governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, place and tentative
agenda of each meeting. The notice shall be placed on the appropriate
bulletin board at City Hall at least twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive
of weekends and holidays, prior to the meeting. If an emergency makes
it impossible to give twenty-four (24) hours' notice, the reason must
be reflected in the minutes. Notice also shall be given to any representative
of the news media who requests notice of a particular meeting.
D. 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 a 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.
E. A formally
constituted subunit of a parent governmental body may conduct a meeting
without notice during a lawful meeting of the parent governmental
body, a recess in that meeting, or immediately following that meeting,
if the meeting of the subunit is publicly announced at the parent
meeting and the subject of the meeting reasonably coincides with the
subjects discussed or acted upon by the parent governmental body.
F. A public
body shall allow for the recording by audiotape, videotape or other
electronic means of any open meeting. A public body may establish
guidelines regarding the manner in which such recording is conducted
so as to minimize disruption to the meeting. No audio recording of
any meeting, record or vote closed pursuant to the provisions of Section
610.021, RSMo., shall be permitted without permission of the public
body; any person who violates this provision shall be guilty of a
class C misdemeanor.
G. Any
member of a public governmental body who transmits any message relating
to public business by electronic means shall also concurrently transmit
that message to either the member's public office computer or the
custodian of records in the same format. The provisions of this Section
shall only apply to messages sent to two (2) or more members of that
body so that, when counting the sender, a majority of the body's members
are copied. Any such message received by the custodian or at the member's
office computer shall be a public record subject to the exceptions
above.
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.
[Ord. No. 608 §3, 8-16-2004]
A. The
City Clerk shall be the custodian of records and will be responsible
for maintenance and control of all records. The custodian may designate
deputy custodian in operating department of the City and such other
departments or offices as the custodian may determine. Deputy custodians
shall conduct matters relating to public records and meeting in accord
with the policies enumerated herein.
B. The
custodian shall provide public access to all public records as soon
as possible but no later than the third (3rd) business day following
the date the request is received by the custodian. If additional delay
is necessary, the custodian shall explain the delay and the date the
record will be available for inspection.
C. If
a request for access is denied, the custodian shall provide, upon
request, a written statement of the grounds for such denial. Such
statement shall cite the specific provision of law under which access
is denied and shall be furnished to the requester no later than the
end of the third (3rd) business day following the date the request
for the statement is received.
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 Aldermen, bring suit at the expense
of the public governmental body, in the Circuit Court for the County
of St. Charles to ascertain the propriety of such action. In addition,
subject to approval by the Board of Aldermen, 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.
[Ord. No. 608 §4, 8-16-2004]
A. The
custodian shall charge ten (10¢) per page for nine (9) inch by
eleven (11) inch paper, fifteen dollars fifty-four cents ($15.54)
per hour for duplicating time, and the actual cost of research time.
It has been determined the cost to obtain and reproduce Police reports
is in excess of ten dollars ($10.00), however, fees for Police reports
shall only be ten dollars ($10.00) for each report. The custodian
may require payment prior to duplicating copies.
B. Fees
for providing access to public records maintained on computer facilities,
recording, tapes or disks, videotapes or films, pictures, maps, slides,
graphics, illustrations or similar audio or visual items or devices
and for paper copies larger than nine (9) by fourteen (14) inches
shall include only the cost of copies, staff time, which shall not
exceed the average hourly rate of pay for staff of the public governmental
body required for making copies and programming, if necessary, and
the cost of the disk, tape or other medium used for the duplication.
Fees for maps, blueprints or plats that require special expertise
to duplicate may include the actual rate of compensation for the trained
personnel required to duplicate such maps, blueprints or plats. If
programming is required beyond the customary and usual level to comply
with a request for records or information, the fees for compliance
may include the actual costs of such programming.
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, 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 record may be accessed except as provided in Section
120.170. If the accused is found not guilty due to mental disease or defect pursuant to Section 552.030, RSMo., official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records upon such findings, except that the disposition may be accessed only by law enforcement agencies, child care agencies, facilities as defined in Section 198.006, RSMo., and in-home services provider agencies as defined in Section 660.250, RSMo., in the manner established by Section
120.170.
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
120.150. 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.