[Adopted 10-18-1984 (Ch. 5 of the 1984 Code)]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Public Records Law of the Town of Rockland, New York."
The Town Board hereby designates the office
of the Town Clerk, located in the Town Hall, Livingston Manor, New
York, as the location where public records shall be available for
public inspection and copying.
The Town Clerk shall accept requests for public
access to records and produce records during all hours during which
the Clerk's office is regularly open for business.
Except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed
by law:
A. There shall be no fee charged for the following:
(3) Any certification pursuant to this part.
B. The Town Clerk may provide copies of records without
charging a fee; or
C. The Town Clerk may charge a fee for copies of records,
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
section shall not be construed to mandate the raising of fees where
agencies in the past have charged less than $0.25 for such copies.
(2) The fee for copies of records not covered by Subsection
C(1) shall not exceed the actual reproduction cost, which is the average unit cost for copying a record, excluding fixed costs of the Town such as operator salaries.
[Adopted 1-6-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994 (Ch. 6 of the 1984
Code)]
Records are essential to the administration
of local government. They contain the information that keeps government
programs functioning. It is the intent of this article 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. It will contain information on taxation
and on the management and expenditure of funds. These records will
also document the historical development of government itself, the
community and the people of the Town of Rockland.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ARCHIVES
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 Rockland, 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 the 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.
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.
SERVICING
Making information in records available to any agency for
official use or to the public.
The Records Management Officer shall have all
the necessary powers to carry out the efficient administration, determination
of value, use, preservation, storage and disposition of the public
records kept, filed or received by the officers and departments of
the Town.
A. The Records Management Office 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 Retention and Disposition Schedule
are subject to disposition.
(2) Archival retention. Information containing administrative,
legal, fiscal, research, historical or educational value which warrants
their permanent retention.
(3) Active retention. Records not yet subject to disposition
according to state law.
B. The Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines
for proper records management in any department of the Town government
in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C. The Records Management Officer shall report annually
to the governing body on the powers and duties herein mentioned, including
but not limited to the development and progress of programs to date
and planned activities for subsequent years.
D. The Records Management Officer shall operate a central
records management storage facility for storage, processing and servicing
of all Town records for all Town departments.
E. Additional requirements of the Records Management
Officer include but are not limited to:
(1) The development of a comprehensive records management
program.
(2) The conduct of an initial survey and analysis of all
records, to be followed up annually with a report of records stored.
(3) The encouragement and coordination of the continuous
legal destruction of obsolete records through the adoption and use
of the State Archive Record Retention and Disposition Schedules.
(4) The development of suitable retention periods for
records not covered by the State Records Retention and Disposition
Schedules. (Subsequently, the RMO must secure approval of such retention
periods from the New York State Commissioner of Education and gain
adoption from the Town Board of proposed change before the retention
period takes effect.)
(5) The assistance to each department for the establishment
of a records management system to support the overall Town records
management program. Encourage the continued efficient management of
records within respective departments.
(6) The setting up and overseeing of a center for the
storage area.
(7) Maintain archival materials which are not official
Town records but which have historical value to the community or close
relationship to the existing archival collection. This shall be subject
to archive space, staff, and cost limitations, and to the potential
endangerment of such materials if they are not collected by the archives.
(8) The coordinating and carrying out or participating
in the planning for development of advanced records management systems
and equipment.
(9) The preparation of special and annual reports for
the Town Board on records management program progress, cost savings
and cost avoidance problems and additional issues.
There shall be a Records Advisory Board designated
to work closely with and provide advice to the Records Management
Officer. The Board shall consist of five members, suggested but not
limited to the following areas: Town Historian, a department head,
a Council member, a Library representative, and attorney and a member
of the community. Appointments to be made by the Supervisor. The Board
shall meet periodically and have the following duties:
A. To provide advice to the Records Management Officer
on the development of the records management program.
B. To review the performance of the program on an ongoing
basis and propose changes and improvements.
C. To review any changes in retention periods proposed
by the Records Management Officer for records not covered by the state
archive schedules.
D. To provide advice on the appraisal of records for
archival value and to be the final sign-off entity as to what is or
is not archival.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed
of by a department of the Town until it has met the time limit on
the State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule or unless approved
by the Records Management Officer. No records shall be destroyed or
otherwise disposed of by the Records Management Officer without the
express written consent of the department head having authority. Following
required consents and prior to actual destruction, the RMO will allow
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:
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.)
To comply with Article 6 of the Public Officers
Law, the following format will be followed:
A. All requests for information shall be in writing,
reasonably describing the record requested and made during regular
business hours of the Town of Rockland offices.
B. 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.
C. Any person denied access to a record may appeal, within
30 days, in writing, such denial to the Town Board.
D. The Town Board is hereby designated as the appeal
agency for determination of denials and will proceed as follows:
(1) The Town Board shall, within 10 business days of the
receipt of an appeal, fully explain in writing to the person requesting
the records the reason for further denial or the Town Board shall
provide access to the records sought.
(2) The Town Board shall forward to the Committee on Open
Government a copy of such appeal when received by the agency and shall
also forward to said Committee the ensuing determination thereon.
E. A set fee will be charged per photocopy of a record.
Such charges will be established by resolution of the Town Board.