Village of Fayetteville, NY Records, Public Access to

The following rules and regulations shall apply to the public inspection and copying of such Village records as are subject to public inspection by law and shall continue in effect until altered, changed, amended or superseded by further action of this Village Board or by action of the Committee on Public Access to Records established pursuant to state law:

The Village Clerk is hereby designated as the records access officer of the Village of Fayetteville.

The Village Treasurer is hereby designated as the fiscal officer of the Village of Fayetteville.

Persons seeking public records shall make application to the records access officer or the fiscal officer, as the case may be, upon the application forms prescribed by the State Comptroller.

Such records shall be made available for inspection at the Village of Fayetteville Municipal Building, at the office therein of the Village officer charged with the custody and keeping thereof.

Such records shall be made available for public inspection on regular business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., if readily available. If the records are not readily available, written request specifically describing the records to which access is desired shall be filed with the Village officer charged with the custody of such request. Such written request shall be on the form prescribed by the State Comptroller. If the Village officer charged with the custody and keeping of the records elects to refuse access, that officer shall submit to the applicant written statement of the reason therefor within 48 hours of the request.

The records access officer is authorized to copy any records which are within the purview of the law. The fees for copies of records shall not exceed $0.25 per photocopy not in excess of nine inches by 14 inches or the actual cost of reproducing any other record, except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by statute. No records shall be reproduced until payment is first received.

[Amended 1-14-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991]

No records shall be removed from the lawful custody of any Village officer charged with the custody and keeping thereof.

The Village officer charged with the custody and keeping of any such record shall, upon request, certify a copy of a document or record prepared pursuant to the provisions of the preceding subsection, upon the payment of a fee of $20.

To prevent an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, the Committee on Open Government may promulgate guidelines for the deletion of identifying details from specified records which are to be made available. In the absence of such guidelines, an agency of the municipality may delete identifying details when it makes records available. An "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" includes, but shall not be limited to:

(1)

Disclosure of such personal matters as may have been reported in confidence to an agency or the municipality and which are not relevant or essential to the ordinary work of the agency or municipality.

(2)

Disclosure of employment, medical or credit histories or personal references of applicants for employment, except that such records may be disclosed when the applicant has provided written release permitting such disclosure.

(3)

Disclosure of items involving the medical or personal records of a client or patient in a hospital or medical facility.

(4)

The sale or release of lists of names and addresses in the possession of any department if such lists would be used for private commercial or fundraising purposes.

(5)

Disclosure of items of a personal nature when disclosure would result in economic or personal hardship to the subject party and such records are not relevant or essential to the ordinary work of the department.

Each department shall maintain and make available for public inspection and copying, in conformity with such regulations as may be issued by the Committee on Open Government, a current list, reasonably detailed, by subject matter, of any records which shall be produced, filed or first kept or promulgated after the effective date of this chapter. Such list may also provide identifying information as to any records in the possession of the department on or before the effective date of this chapter.

In the event any request 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, the applicant shall be given a written notice of the denial and notice that he may appeal to the Mayor of the Village and the denial decision. Such appeal shall be in writing and shall be submitted to the Mayor, who is hereby designated as the appeals officer, within one week from the time the denial was given.