[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Somerset 11-12-1974; amended in its entirety 9-10-1996 by L.L. No. 2-1996. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
Records are essential to the administration of local government. They contain the information that keeps government programs functioning. It is the intent of this chapter that a records management program be established which will assist officials in making decisions, administering programs and providing administrative continuity with past operations. The program is intended to document the delivery of services, show the legal responsibilities of government and protect the legal rights of citizens. These records will document the historical development of government itself, the community and the people of the Town.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those official records which have been determined by the Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant the continued preservation by the Town.
RECORDS
Official files, minutes and documents, books, papers, photographs, sound recordings, microforms or any other materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or in conjunction with the transaction of official Town business.
RECORDS CENTER
A central storage area maintained by the Records Management Officer for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records which must be preserved for varying periods of time.
RECORDS DISPOSITION
The removal by the Town of Somerset, in accordance with approved records control schedules, of the records no longer necessary for the conduct of business by such agency through removal methods which may include the disposition of temporary records by destruction or donation or transfer of records to a central storage facility for records with scheduled retention periods or permanent storage of records determined to have historical or other sufficient value warranting continued preservation or the transfer of records from one Town agency to another Town agency.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promotion and other managerial activities involved in records creation, records maintenance and use and records disposition, including records preservation, records disposal and the records center or other storage facilities.
A. 
The Town Clerk is designated as the Records Management Officer (RMO) and will be responsible for administering the current and arrival public records in storage areas in the Town in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
B. 
The RMO may appoint a designee to carry out specific duties.
C. 
The RMO shall continually survey and examine public records to recommend their classification so as to determine the most suitable method to be used for maintaining, storing and servicing them under the following guidelines:
(1) 
Disposition. Records deemed obsolete and unnecessary according to the New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule are subject to disposition.
(2) 
Archival retention. Records containing information with administrative, legal, fiscal, research, historical or educational value which warrants their permanent retention are subject to archival retention.
(3) 
Active retention. Records not yet subject to disposition according to state law are subject to active retention.
There shall be a Records Advisory Committee designated to work closely with and provide advice to the Records Management Officer. The Board shall consist of the Supervisor, Town Clerk, Town Historian and the Town Attorney.
A. 
Active records. The originating department has full custody (legal and physical) over records still in active use.
B. 
Inactive records. The originating department is the legal custodian of its records and shall retain the power to retrieve and use records deposited in inactive storage in the records center. The RMO will have physical custody of inactive records and will determine the method and design of storage.
C. 
Archival records. Records transferred to or acquired by the archives shall be under the full custody (legal and physical) of the archives, as directed by the RMO, rather than the department which created or held them immediately prior to being transferred to the archives.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a department of the Town until it has met the time limit on the New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule or unless approved of by the Records Management Officer. No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the Records Management Officer without allowing the Town Historian to review and/or remove any single document or sampling of documents that are of historic value to the community.
The legal department may take steps to recover local government records which have been alienated from proper custody and may, when necessary, institute actions of replevin. ("Replevin" is the recovery by a person of goods claimed to be his, on his promise to test the matter in court and give the goods up again if defeated.)
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.
B. 
These regulations provide information concerning the procedures by which records may be obtained in accordance with Article 6 of the Public Officers Law.
A. 
The Town Clerk of the Town of Somerset will act as Records Access Officer and shall act as administrator of this chapter.
B. 
The Records Access Officer shall ensure that personnel:
(1) 
Maintain an up-to-date subject matter list.
(2) 
Assist the requester in identifying requested records, if necessary.
A. 
All requests for information shall be in writing, reasonably describing the record requested and made during regular business hours of the Town of Somerset offices.
B. 
Such records shall be made available for inspection at the office of the Town Clerk of the Town of Somerset.
C. 
Within five business days of the receipt of the written request, one of the following will occur:
(1) 
The record will be made available to the person requesting it.
(2) 
The request will be denied in writing.
(3) 
A written acknowledgment of the receipt of the request and a statement of the approximate date when such request shall be granted or denied will be forwarded.
D. 
To prevent an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, the Committee on Open Government may promulgate guidelines for the deletion of identifying details for specified records which are to be made available. In the absence of such guidelines, an agency or municipality may delete identifying details when it makes records available.
A. 
The Town Board of the Town of Somerset is hereby designated to hear appeals regarding denial of access to records.
[Amended 7-10-2007 by L.L. No. 1-2007]
B. 
Any person denied access to a record may appeal within 30 days of denial, in writing, to the Supervisor.
C. 
The time for deciding an appeal by the Supervisor shall commence upon receipt of written appeal identifying:
(1) 
The date and location of requests for records.
(2) 
The records that were denied.
(3) 
The name and return address of the applicant.
D. 
The Supervisor shall transmit to the Committee on Open Government copies of all appeals upon receipt of an appeal.
E. 
The Supervisor shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Open Government of its determination in writing within 10 business days of the receipt of the appeal.
The Town officer charged with the custody and keeping of the records shall, upon request, make a copy or copies of any record subject to such inspection upon a payment of a fee of $0.25 per page.