[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Churchville 7-7-1975 (Ch. 20 of the 1984 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
The people's right to know the process of government decisionmaking and the documents and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.
B. 
This chapter provides information concerning the procedures by which records may be obtained.
C. 
Personnel shall furnish to the public the information and records required by the Freedom of Information Law[1] and those which were furnished to the public prior to its enactment.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Art. 6 of the Public Officers Law.
D. 
Any conflicts among laws governing public access to records shall be construed in favor of the widest possible availability of public records.
A. 
The Mayor is responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations herein. The Mayor shall designate the Village Clerk as records access officer. The records access officer shall coordinate the response to public requests for access to records. However, the public shall not be denied access to records through officials who have in the past been authorized to make records or information available.
[Amended 4-4-1988 by L.L. No. 3-1988]
B. 
The records access officer is responsible for assuring that personnel:
(1) 
Maintain an up-to-date subject matter list.
(2) 
Assist the requester in identifying requested records, if necessary.
(3) 
Contact persons seeking records when a request is voluminous or when locating the records involves substantial effort, so that personnel may ascertain the nature of records of primary interest and attempt to reasonably reduce the volume of records requested.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(4) 
Upon locating the records, take one of the following actions:
(a) 
Make records promptly available for inspection; or
(b) 
Deny access to the records, in whole or in part, and explain in writing the reasons therefor.
(5) 
Upon request for copies of records:
(a) 
Make a copy available upon payment or offer to pay established fees, if any; or
(b) 
Permit the requester to copy those records.
(6) 
Upon request, certify that a transcript is a true copy of records copied.
(7) 
Upon failure to locate records, certify that:
(a) 
The Village of Churchville is not the legal custodian for such records; or
(b) 
The records of which the Village of Churchville is a legal custodian cannot be found.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 20-3 of the 1984 Code, Fiscal officer designated, as amended, which immediately followed this section, was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying in the following location:
Village Hall
23 East Buffalo Street
Churchville, New York 14428
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Requests for public access to records shall be accepted and records shall be produced during regular business hours as determined by resolution of the Village Board at the annual organizational meeting.
A. 
Oral or written requests. Where a request for records is required, such request may be oral or in writing. However, written requests shall not be required for records that have been customarily available without written request.
B. 
If records are maintained on the internet, the requester shall be informed that the records are accessible via the internet and in printed form either on paper or other information storage medium.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
C. 
Prompt response to requests.
(1) 
Officials shall respond promptly to a request for records. Except under extraordinary circumstances, their response shall be made no more than five working days after receipt of the request, whether the request is oral or in writing.
(2) 
If, for any reason, more than five days are required to produce records, receipt of the request shall be acknowledged within five working days after the request is received. The acknowledgment shall include a brief explanation of the reason for delay and an estimate of the date production or denial will be forthcoming.
D. 
Lists of records.
(1) 
A current list, by subject matter, of all records produced, filed or first kept or promulgated after September 1, 1974, is available for public inspection and copying. The list shall be sufficiently detailed to permit the requester to identify the file category of the record sought.
(2) 
The subject matter list shall be updated annually and the date of the most recent update shall appear on the first page.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
E. 
Identification details. So that records can be located within a reasonable period of time, a request for access to records should be sufficiently detailed to identify the records. Where possible, the requester should supply information regarding dates, titles, file designations or other information which may help identify the records.
F. 
Identifying standards. A request for any or all records falling within a specific category shall conform to the standard that records be identifiable.
G. 
Removal restricted. No records may be removed by the requester from the office where the record is located without the permission of the Village Clerk.
A. 
The Mayor shall hear appeals for denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law.
[Amended 4-4-1988 by L.L. No. 3-1988]
B. 
Denial of access shall be in writing, stating the reason therefor and advising the requester of his/her right to appeal to the individual or body established to hear appeals.
C. 
If requested records are not provided promptly, as required in § 49-5C of this chapter, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access.
D. 
The time for deciding an appeal by the individual or body designated to hear appeals shall commence upon receipt of written appeal identifying:
(1) 
The date and location of requests for records.
(2) 
The records to which the requester was denied access.
(3) 
The name and return address of the requester.
E. 
The individual or body designated to hear appeals shall inform the requester of its decision, in writing, within 10 business days of receipt of an appeal.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
F. 
A final denial of access to a requested record, as provided for in Subsection E of this section, shall be subject to court review, as provided for in Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A. 
There shall be no fee charged for:
(1) 
Inspection of records;
(2) 
Search for records; or
(3) 
Any certification pursuant to this chapter.
B. 
Copies may be provided without charging a fee.
C. 
Fees for copies may be charged, provided that:
(1) 
The fee for copying records shall not exceed $0.25 per page for photocopies not exceeding nine inches by 14 inches. This subsection shall not be construed to mandate the raising of fees where agencies or municipalities in the past have charged less than $0.25 for such copies;
(2) 
The fee for photocopies of records in excess of nine inches by 14 inches shall not exceed the actual cost of reproduction; or
(3) 
The Village has the authority to redact portions of a paper record and does so prior to disclosure of the record by making a photocopy from which the proper redactions are made.
D. 
The fee the Village may charge for a copy of any other record is based on the actual cost of reproduction and may include only the following:
(1) 
An amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to prepare a copy of the requested record, but only when more than two hours of the employee’s time is necessary to do so; and
(2) 
The actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the person making the request in complying with such request; or
(3) 
The actual cost to the Village of engaging an outside professional service to prepare a copy of a record, but only when the Village's information technology equipment is inadequate to prepare a copy, and if such service is used to prepare the copy.
E. 
When the Village has the ability to retrieve or extract a record or data maintained in a computer storage system with reasonable effort, or when doing so requires less employee time than engaging in manual retrieval or redactions from nonelectronic records, the Village shall be required to retrieve or extract such record or data electronically. In such case, the Village may charge a fee in accordance with Subsection D(1) and (2) above.
F. 
The Village shall inform a person requesting a record of the estimated cost of preparing a copy of the record if more than two hours of a Village employee's time is needed, or if it is necessary to retain an outside professional service to prepare a copy of the record.
G. 
The Village may require that the fee for copying or reproducing a record be paid in advance of the preparation of such copy.
H. 
The Village may waive a fee in whole or in part when making copies of records available.