Town of Rush, NY Chapter 17 Records

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Rush as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I Public Access

[Adopted 1-28-1975]

§ 17-1 Title.

Resolution adopting rules and regulations with relation to public inspection and copying of Town records as are subject to public inspection law.

§ 17-2 Applicability. [1]

The following rules and regulations shall apply to the public inspection and copying of such records of the Town of Rush as are subject to public inspection by law and shall continue in effect until altered, changed, amended or superseded by further resolution of the Rush Town Board, or by action of the State Committee on Open Government.

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).

§ 17-3 Record access officers.

A. Record access officers. The Town Clerk and the Town Supervisor are hereby designated as record access officers and are charged with the custody and keeping of such records and are the persons from whom such records may be obtained.

B. Fiscal officer. The fiscal officer of the Town of Rush is the Town Supervisor and he or she is hereby designated as records access officer in regard to payroll records.

§ 17-4 Location of records.

Such records shall be made available for inspection at the offices of the Town of Rush, 5977 East Henrietta Road Rush, New York 14543 [telephone [phone])], by a records access officer. Such records shall be inspected in the presence of a records access officer and shall not be removed from the Town offices.

§ 17-5 Hours for public inspection; procedure for written requests.

Such records shall be made available for public inspection during regular business hours on regular business days, if readily available. If not readily available, or if the workload of the records access officer will not allow for immediate response to a request for access to such records, a written request specifically describing the records to which access is desired shall be filed with a records access officer, who shall produce the same within three business days of such request. Such written request shall be on the form prescribed by the State Comptroller.

§ 17-6 Fees.

A. Copies. A records access officer shall, upon request, make a copy or copies of any record subject to inspection upon payment of a fee of $0.25 per page. The records access officer shall make such copies and mail or deliver them to the requestor within one week depending on the volume and number of copies requested.

B. Certification. A records access officer shall, upon request, certify a copy of a document or record prepared pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A. There shall be no fee for this service.

§ 17-7 Records not to be disclosed.

To prevent an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, the following types of records or parts of records shall not be available for inspection:

A. Such personal matters as may have been reported in confidence and which are not relevant or essential to the ordinary work of the Town;

B. Employment, medical or credit histories or personal references of applicants fro employment, except that such records may be disclosed when the applicant has provided a written release permitting such disclosure;

C. Lists of names and addresses in the possession of the Town, if such lists would be used for private, commercial or private fund-raising purposes;

D. 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 Town.

§ 17-8 Denial of access to records.

If the records access officer elects to deny access, he or she shall submit to the requestor a written statement of his or her reason therefor and advising the requestor of his or her right to appeal to the Town Board, the body hereby designated to hear appeals.

§ 17-9 Time of appeal.

A. The time for deciding an appeal shall commence upon receipt of a written appeal identifying:

(1) The date and location of requests for records;

(2) The records to which the requestor was denied access; and

(3) The name and return address of the requestor.

B. The Town Board shall inform the requestor of its decision in writing within seven business days of receipt of an appeal.

Article II Retention and Disposition

[Adopted 3-10-2004 by L.L. No. 3-2004; amended in its entirety 12-9-2020 by L.L. No. 2-2020]

§ 17-10 Record retention and disposition schedule.

[Amended 12-9-2020 by L.L. No. 2-2020]

A. Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records, issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law and containing legal minimum retention periods for municipal government records, as prepared and may be revised by the State Education Department, is hereby adopted for use by all municipal officers in disposing of municipal government records listed therein.

B. In accordance with Article 57-A:

(1) Only those records will be disposed of that are described in said Records Retention and Disposition Schedule after they have met the minimum retention period prescribed therein.

(2) Only those records will be disposed of that do not have sufficient administrative fiscal, legal or historical value to merit retention beyond established time periods.