[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Warsaw at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions,
Art. I. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this Article is to set forth the methods and
procedures governing the availability, location and nature of those
records of the Village of Warsaw subject to the provisions of Article
6 of the Public Officers Law, known as the "Freedom of Information
Law."[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Public Officers Law § 84
et seq.
A.
The Board of Trustees is responsible for ensuring compliance with
the regulations herein and designates the following person as records
access officer: the Village Clerk, 15 South Main Street, Warsaw, New
York.
B.
The records access officer is responsible for ensuring appropriate
agency response to public request for access to records pursuant to
the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law.[1] The designation of the records access officer shall not
be construed to prohibit officials who have, in the past, been authorized
to make records or information available to the public from continuing
to do so.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Public Officers Law § 84
et seq.
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying
at the village offices, 15 South Main Street, Warsaw, New York.
Requests for public access to records shall be accepted and
records shall be produced during the hours that the Village Clerk's
office is regularly opened for business.
A.
A written request may be required, but oral requests may be accepted
when records are readily available.
B.
A response shall be given within five business days of the receipt
of any request reasonably describing the record or records sought.
C.
A request shall reasonably describe the record or records sought.
Whenever possible, a person requesting records should supply information
regarding dates, file designations or other information that may help
to describe the records sought.
D.
If the records access officer does not provide or deny access to
the records sought within five business days of receipt of a request,
he or she shall furnish a written acknowledgment of the receipt of
the request and a statement of the approximate date when the request
will be granted or denied.
E.
If the request is granted, the records access officer shall provide
a copy of such record to the person requesting the same upon payment
of the fee prescribed therefor and shall certify to the correctness
of such copy if requested to do so. Alternatively, the records access
officer shall certify that he or she does not have possession of such
record or that such record cannot be located after a diligent search.
The fee for copies of records shall be $0.25 per page not exceeding
nine inches by 14 inches in size or the maximum fee permitted under
the Freedom of Information Law[1] as it may from time be amended. The fees for other types
of copies or transcripts and for certificates shall be the reasonable
amounts as the records access officer shall establish. The fees charged
by the records access officer for records shall not exceed the actual
cost of reproducing such record, except when a different fee is otherwise
prescribed by law.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Public Officers Law § 84
et seq.
The records access officer shall, in accordance with this Article,
make available for public inspection and copying all records, except
that the records access officer may deny access to records or portions
thereof which are not subject to disclosure in accordance with the
provisions of Subdivision 2 of § 87 of the Public Officers
Law or any other applicable state or federal statute or unless the
public access officer determines that to grant the application would
adversely affect the public interest.
ARCHIVES — Those official records which have
been determined by the Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient
historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation
by the local government.
Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound records,
microforms or any other materials, regardless of physical form or
characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or in connection
with the transaction of official Village of Warsaw business.
An establishment maintained by the Village of Warsaw primarily
for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records which
must be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained
in office equipment or space.
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial use and records disposition, including
records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other
storage facilities.
Making information in records available to any Village of
Warsaw agency for official use or to the public.
There shall be a records management program established under
the aegis of the Village Board of Trustees and headed by a records
management officer (RMO). The officer will be responsible for administering
the noncurrent and archival public records and storage areas for the
Village of Warsaw in accordance with local, state and federal laws
and guidelines.
The records management officer shall have all the necessary
powers to carry out the efficient administration and determination
of value, use, preservation, storage and disposition of the noncurrent
and archival public records kept, filed or received by the offices
and departments of the Village of Warsaw. The records management officer
shall:
A.
Continually survey and examine public records to recommend their
classification so as to determine the most suitable methods to be
used for the maintaining, storing and servicing of archival material:
(1)
Obsolete and unnecessary records, according to New York State records
retention and disposition schedules, thereby subject to disposition;
(2)
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research, historical
or educational value which warrant their permanent retention; or
(3)
Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
B.
Establish guidelines for proper records management in any department
or agency of the Village of Warsaw in accordance with local, state
and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
Report annually to the chief executive official and the governing
body on the powers and duties herein mentioned, including but not
limited to the cost/benefit ratio of programs effectuated by the department.
D.
Operate a records management center for the storage, processing and
servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for all Village of
Warsaw departments and agencies.
E.
Establish a Village of Warsaw archives and perform the following
functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Village of Warsaw departments in reviewing and
selecting material to be transferred to the Village of Warsaw archives
for preservation.
(2)
Continually survey and examine public records to determine the most
suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining, storing
and servicing of archival materials.
(3)
Establish and maintain an adequate repository for the proper storage,
conservation, processing and servicing of archival records.
(4)
Promulgate rules governing public access to and use of records in
the archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
(5)
Develop a confidentiality policy for archival records designated
confidential, provided that such policy does not conflict with any
federal or state statutes.
(6)
Provide information services to other Village of Warsaw offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official Village of Warsaw
records but which have associational value to the Village of Warsaw
or a close relationship to the existing archival collection. Such
collecting 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)
Develop a procedure whereby historically important records are to
be identified at the point of generation.
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 the Village Board of Trustees. The Board shall meet
periodically and have the following duties:
A.
Provide advice to the records management officer on the development
of the records management program.
B.
Review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis and propose
changes and improvements.
C.
Review retention periods proposed by the records management officer
for records not covered by state archives' schedules.
D.
Provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival value and
be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.
A.
The Village Board of Trustees is the legal custodian of its records
and shall retain custody of records deposited in the records center.
Records transferred to or acquired by the archives shall be under
the custody and control of the archives, rather than the department
which created or held them immediately prior to being transferred
to the archives.
B.
Records shall be transferred to the archives upon the recommendation
of the RMO, with the approval of the head of the department which
has custody of the records and the approval of the Records Advisory
Board.
C.
Records may be permanently removed from the archives at the request
of the RMO or the head of the department which had custody of the
records immediately prior to the transfer of those records to the
archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
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.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a
department of the Village of Warsaw unless approval has
been obtained from 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.