Village of Blanchardville, WI Chapter 79 Records, Public

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Blanchardville as Sec. 1.07 of the 2003 Municipal Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 79-1 Legal custodians of Village records.

[Amended 8-31-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-03]

The Village Board hereby designates the Clerk-Treasurer as the official legal custodian of the public records of the Village, except that the Police Officer in Charge shall be the legal custodian of Police Department records and the Fire Chief shall be the legal custodian of Fire Department records. It shall be the responsibility of said custodians to carry out all duties and responsibilities imposed upon the Village and the legal custodians by the Wisconsin Public Records and Property Law, as set forth in §§ 19.31 to 19.39, Wis. Stats. The custodians shall be responsible for the timely response to any request for access to the public records, the release of the public records of the Village, the conditions under which records may be inspected and the collection of costs for the location and reproduction of such records.

§ 79-2 Deputy legal custodian.

[Amended 8-31-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-03]

The Village President is hereby designated as deputy legal custodian to act as legal custodian in the absence of the Clerk-Treasurer, the Police Officer in Charge or the Fire Chief.

§ 79-3 Notice to all employees.

It is directed that all employees of the Village be informed, in writing, of the designation of the legal custodians and the deputy legal custodian of the public records of the Village. Employees shall be further informed of the duties of the official legal custodian and shall also be made aware of the other requirements and provisions of this chapter.

§ 79-4 Powers and duties of official legal custodians.

All requests for the release, inspection and/or reproduction of public records of the Village shall be directed or referred to the legal custodians who are hereby vested with full legal power to make all necessary decisions relative to the release, inspection and reproduction of public records and are further granted all authority necessary to carry out all duties and responsibilities required by either the Wisconsin Public Records and Property Law[1] or this chapter. The custodians shall establish hours when persons shall have access to records. The Clerk-Treasurer shall prepare and post a notice to the public regarding access to public records, pursuant to § 19.34, Wis. Stats.

[1] Editor's Note: See § 19.21 et seq., Wis. Stats.

§ 79-5 Confidentiality of certain records. [1]

Whenever the Assessor, in the performance of the Assessor's duties, requests or obtains income and expense information pursuant to § 70.47(7)(af), Wis. Stats., or any successor statute thereto, then such income and expense information that is provided to the Assessor shall be held by the Assessor on a confidential basis, except, however, that said information may be revealed to and used by persons in the discharging of duties imposed by law; in the discharge of duties imposed by office (including, but not limited to, use by the Assessor in performance of official duties of the Assessor's office and use by the Board of Review in performance of its official duties); or pursuant to order of a court. Income and expense information provided to the Assessor under § 70.47(7)(af), unless a court determines that it is inaccurate, is, per § 70-47(7)(af), not subject to the right of inspection and copying under § 19.35(1), Wis. Stats.

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

§ 79-6 Fee schedule. [1]

The cost of photocopying shall be set by the Village Board. It is intended that this fee schedule shall cover the payment of the actual, necessary and direct costs incurred in locating a document or in providing any person with a reproduction of any of the records of the Village.

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

§ 79-7 Preservation of records.

The records of the Village shall be retained and preserved by the legal custodians, as required by all applicable laws, and no records shall be destroyed without the prior written approval of the legal custodian. Further, no record of the Village shall be destroyed after the receipt of a request for such record until after the request is granted or until any dispute concerning the request has been completely and finally resolved.

§ 79-8 Destruction of obsolete records.

A. Financial records. The Clerk-Treasurer may destroy the following nonutility records of which he is the legal custodian and which are considered obsolete after completion of an audit by state auditors or an auditor licensed under Ch. 442, Wis. Stats., but not less than seven years after payment or receipt of any sum involved in the particular transaction unless a shorter period has been fixed or will, in the future, be fixed by the Village Board, pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e), Wis. Stats., and then after such shorter period:[1]

(1) Bank statements, deposit books, slips and stubs.

(2) Bonds and coupons after maturity.

(3) Canceled checks, duplicates and check stubs.

(4) License and permit applications, stubs and duplicates.

(5) Official bonds.

(6) Payrolls and other time and employment records of personnel included under the Wisconsin Retirement Fund.

(7) Receipt forms.

(8) Special assessment records.

(9) Vouchers, requisitions, purchase orders and all other supporting documents pertaining thereto.

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

B. Utility records. The Clerk-Treasurer may destroy the following records of any municipal utility of which he is legal custodian and which are considered obsolete after completion of an audit by the state auditors or by an auditor licensed under Ch. 442, Wis. Stats., but not less than two years after payment or receipt of the sum involved in the applicable transaction:

(1) Sewer and water charge stubs.

(2) Receipts of current billings.

(3) Customers' ledgers.

C. Other records. The Clerk-Treasurer may destroy the following records of which he is the legal custodian and which are considered obsolete, but not less than seven years after the record was effective.

(1) Assessment rolls and related records, including Board of Review minutes.

(2) Contracts and papers relating thereto.

(3) Correspondence and communications.

(4) Financial reports other than annual financial reports.

(5) Insurance policies.

(6) Oaths of office.

(7) Reports of boards, commissions, committees and officials duplicated in the Village Board minutes.

(8) Resolutions and petitions.

D. Police records.

[Added 11-7-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-03]

(1) The purpose of this subsection is to establish records retention schedules for police records and authorize destruction of police records pursuant to a schedule on an annual basis.

(2) No requested record may be destroyed until after the request is granted or 60 days after the request is denied. If an action is to commence under § 19.37, Wis. Stats., the requested record may not be destroyed until a court order is issued and all appeals have been completed.

(3) No record subject to pending litigation shall be destroyed until the litigation has been resolved.

(4) The Village may store records electronically per § 16.612, Wis. Stats. The retention periods identified in this section apply to records in any media.[2]

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

(5) The type of records and the established retention period are as set forth hereafter.[3] For purposes hereof, "CR" means time is counted from creation or receipt of the record; "EVT" means an event, such as filing a lawsuit or writing a ticket, and time is counted from the date of this significant event.

[3] Editor's Note: The Retention of Police Records schedule is located at the end of this chapter.

E. Notice required. Prior to the destruction of any public record described above, at least 60 days' notice shall be given to the State Historical Society.

F. Limitation. This section shall not be construed to authorize the destruction of any public record after a period less than prescribed by statute or state administrative regulation.