[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Emerson 3-21-2000 by Ord. No. 1127. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a
procedure for the production of public records as defined by the laws
of this state, common law or such other records as may be ordered
produced by order of the court.
A.
All requests for public records shall be made in writing
to the Borough Clerk, except for tax records. Requests for tax records
shall be made in writing to the Borough Tax Assessor.
B.
The public business of the Borough shall take precedence
over a record request, especially where such request is a broad or
far-reaching information request.
A.
Upon request to view records, if said records are
public and on site, the Borough will endeavor to honor such request
within three business days.
B.
Upon request for photocopies of records, if such records
are public and on site and 100 pages or less, the Borough will endeavor
to honor such request with five business days from receipt of the
written request and a deposit in the approximate amount of the cost
for copying said records.
C.
Upon request for photocopies of records, if such records
are public, and either off site and/or more than 100 pages, the Borough
will endeavor to honor such request within 10 calendar days from receipt
of the written request and a deposit in the approximate amount of
the cost for copying said records.
D.
Upon request for minutes of meetings, or other taped
proceedings, if such minutes are public records, the Borough will
endeavor to honor such request within 30 business days from the receipt
of the written request or date of the meeting (whichever is greater)
and a deposit in the approximate amount of the cost of the transcript
together with any copying charges.
All requests for public records shall be as
specific as possible. Public record requests which are random in nature
shall not be accepted.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Records that are exempt from disclosure:
A.
Records of a personal nature regarding Borough officials,
employees and/or other applicable individuals.
B.
Medical records of Borough officials, employees and/or
other applicable officials.
C.
All records exempted by state and/or federal statutes,
rules and/or regulations.
D.
All records exempted by Presidential and/or gubernatorial
order.
E.
All records which are not included in the definition
of "public records" pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. where applicable.
F.
Confidential police investigation reports.
G.
Work product or notes of Borough officials/employees.
H.
Council closed session minutes involving personnel
matters. Council open session minutes shall not be considered public
records until such time as they are approved by the Borough Council.
Council closed session minutes, other than involving personnel matters,
shall not be considered public records until such time as they are
approved by the Borough Council and the matter(s) in question have
been concluded pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
A report prepared for review by the Mayor and Council shall not be
deemed a public record until at least seven calendar days after disbursement
of the report by the Borough Clerk to the Mayor and Council or the
next Council meeting, whichever is later.
Not all requests for public records do, in fact,
lead to the copying, review and/or release of such records. A public
record may be a public record under common law, but may not be a public
record under the Right to Know Law, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., or vice
versa, or it may be or may not be a public record under any other
statute, rule, regulation and/or court decision. The Borough Clerk
shall seek the opinion of the Borough Attorney as to whether or not
a record is public if there is any question as to its potential copying,
review and/or release. The Borough Clerk's actions in this regard
shall be guided by such legal opinion.
[Added 8-19-2003 by Ord. No. 1238; amended
at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Not all records can be readily accessible for
inspection, copying or examination by citizens because the record
request may be voluminous or require an extraordinary expenditure
of time or effort by Borough employees. In such instances, the following
shall apply:
A.
Whenever the nature, format, manner of collation or
volume of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter
to be inspected, examined or copied pursuant to a law respecting public
access to government records in compliance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et
seq. is such that the record cannot be reproduced by ordinary document
copying equipment in ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary
expenditure of time and effort to accommodate the request, which determination
shall be made at the discretion of the Borough Clerk, a special service
charge shall be imposed, which shall be $40 per hour, plus the actual
direct cost of providing the copy or copies.
B.
In the event said public records are requested and
necessitate the location and mailing of the same to the party requesting
said public records, then the additional fees therefore shall be as
follows:
(1)
Mailing charge: $20.
C.
Search of Borough records:
D.
Estimate of special handling costs; deposits for fees.
(1)
Where the fee for copying or special handling is estimated
to be in excess of $5, the requestor shall deposit the estimated cost
prior to the making of copies or execution of search by Borough personnel.
(2)
Cash, certified check or bank check shall be the only
acceptable form of payment for any costs or estimated fees deposit
over $25.
E.
The requestor shall have the opportunity to review
and object to the estimated charge prior to it being incurred. The
Borough Clerk shall seek the opinion of the Borough Attorney if the
fee is disputed and shall be guided by such legal opinion.
[Added 11-9-2004 by Ord. No. 1273]
A.
All requests for discovery in matters pending in the
Emerson Municipal Court shall be submitted through the Municipal Prosecutor.
B.
The following fees shall be payable by the requestor
to the Borough of Emerson for the discovery provided:
(1)
For each of the first 10 pages photocopied: $0.75
per page.
(2)
For each of the next 10 pages photocopied: $0.50 per
page.
(3)
For each of the pages photocopied thereafter: $0.25
per page.
(4)
Actual postage for any discovery sent by mail.
(5)
For the envelope for any discovery sent by mail: $0.25.
(6)
Photographs will be photocopied at the rates established
herein. If requests are made for duplicate photographs, the actual
cost of making the photographs shall be charged.
(7)
Duplication of videotapes and video disks constitutes
an extraordinary duplication process and will be charged at the rate
of $5 per videotape or video disk.
(8)
On any item that cannot be photocopied on the Emerson
copy machine or not otherwise provided for in this schedule, the actual
cost incurred in making the copy shall be charged.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
(9)
No
charge for email or FAX.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions,
Art. I)]
C.
Where the discovery must be obtained from an entity
other than the Borough of Emerson, e.g., another police department,
the actual costs paid to the other entity shall be paid by the requestor.
