[R.O. 2008 § 140.070; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006; Ord. No. 6794 § 2, 7-8-2021]
A. All meetings, records and votes are open
to the public, except that any meeting, record, minutes or vote relating
to one (1) or more of the following matters, as well as other materials
designated elsewhere in this Article, shall be closed unless the public
governmental body votes to make them public:
1.
Legal actions, causes of action or
litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential
or privileged communications between a public governmental body or
its representatives and its attorneys. However, any minutes, vote
or settlement agreement relating to legal actions, causes of action,
or litigation involving a public governmental body or any agent or
entity representing its interests or acting on its behalf or with
its authority, including any insurance company acting on behalf of
a public governmental body as its insured, shall be made public upon
final disposition of the matter voted upon or upon the signing by
the parties of the settlement agreement, unless prior to final disposition,
the settlement agreement is ordered closed by a court after a written
finding that the adverse impact to a plaintiff or plaintiffs to the
action clearly outweighs the public policy considerations of Section
610. 011, RSMo.; however, the amount of any monies paid by, or on
behalf of, the public governmental body shall be disclosed; provided,
however, in matters involving the exercise of the power of eminent
domain, the vote shall be announced or become public immediately following
the action on the motion to authorize institution of such a legal
action. Legal work product shall be considered a closed record.
2.
Leasing, purchase or sale of real
estate by a public governmental body where public knowledge of the
transaction might adversely affect the legal consideration therefor.
However, any minutes or vote or public record approving a contract
relating to the leasing, purchase or sale of real estate by a public
governmental body shall be made public upon execution of the lease,
purchase or sale of the real estate.
3.
Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting
of particular employees by a public governmental body when personal
information about the employee is discussed or recorded. However,
any vote on a final decision, when taken by a public governmental
body, to hire, fire, promote or discipline an employee of a public
governmental body shall be made available with a record of how each
member voted to the public within seventy-two (72) hours of the close
of the meeting where such action occurs; provided, however, that any
employee so affected shall be entitled to prompt notice of such decision
during the seventy-two-hour period before such decision is made available
to the public. As used in this Subsection, the term "personal information"
means information relating to the performance or merit of individual
employees.
4.
Non-judicial mental or physical health
proceedings involving identifiable persons, including medical, psychiatric,
psychological, or alcoholism or drug-dependency diagnosis or treatment.
5.
Testing and examination materials,
before the test or examination is given or, if it is to be given again,
before so given again.
6.
Welfare cases of identifiable individuals.
7.
Preparation, including any discussions
or work product, on behalf of a public governmental body or its representatives
for negotiations with employee groups.
8.
Software codes for electronic data
processing and documentation thereof.
9.
Specifications for competitive bidding,
until either the specifications are officially approved by the public
governmental body or the specifications are published for bid.
10.
Sealed bids and related documents,
until the bids are opened; and sealed proposals and related documents
or any documents related to a negotiated contract until a contract
is executed or all proposals are rejected.
11.
Individually identifiable personnel
records, performance ratings or records pertaining to employees or
applicants for employment, except that this exemption shall not apply
to the names, positions, salaries and lengths of service of officers
and employees of public agencies once they are employed as such. It
is the policy of the City that no information relating to present
or past employees other than names, positions, salaries and lengths
of service shall be provided to any person or agency other than as
may be required in response to a subpoena lawfully issued by a court
of competent jurisdiction, or as otherwise may be required by law.
12.
Records which are protected from
disclosure by law.
13.
Meetings and public records relating
to scientific and technological innovations in which the owner has
a proprietary interest.
14.
Records relating to municipal hotlines
established for the reporting of abuse and wrongdoing.
15.
Confidential or privileged communications
between a public governmental body and its auditor, including all
auditor work product; however, all final audit reports issued by the
auditor are to be considered open records pursuant to this Chapter.
16.
Operational guidelines and policies
developed, adopted or maintained by any public agency responsible
for law enforcement, public safety, first response or public health
for use in responding to or preventing any critical incident which
is or appears to be terrorist in nature and which has the potential
to endanger individual or public safety or health. Nothing in this
exception shall be deemed to close information regarding expenditures,
purchases or contracts made by an agency in implementing these guidelines
or policies. When seeking to close information pursuant to this exception,
the agency shall affirmatively state, in writing, that disclosure
would impair its ability to protect the safety or health of persons
and shall, in the same writing, state that the public interest in
non-disclosure outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the
records.
17.
Existing or proposed security systems
and structural plans of real property owned or leased by a public
governmental body and information that is voluntarily submitted by
a non-public entity owning or operating an infrastructure to any public
governmental body for use by that body to devise plans for protection
of that infrastructure, the public disclosure of which would threaten
public safety.
a.
Records related to the procurement
of or expenditures relating to security systems purchased with public
funds shall be open;
b.
When seeking to close information
pursuant to this exception, the public governmental body shall affirmatively
state, in writing, that disclosure would impair the public governmental
body's ability to protect the security or safety of persons or real
property and shall, in the same writing, state that the public interest
in non-disclosure outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the
records;
c.
Records that are voluntarily submitted
by a non-public entity shall be reviewed by the receiving agency within
ninety (90) days of submission to determine if retention of the document
is necessary in furtherance of a State security interest. If retention
is not necessary, the documents shall be returned to the non-public
governmental body or destroyed.
18.
The portion of a record that identifies
security systems or access codes or authorization codes for security
systems of real property.
19.
Records that identify the configuration
of components or the operation of a computer, computer system, computer
network or telecommunications network and would allow unauthorized
access to or unlawful disruption of a computer, computer system, computer
network or telecommunications network of a public governmental body.
This exception shall not be used to limit or deny access to otherwise
public records in a file, document, data file or database containing
public records. Records related to the procurement of or expenditures
relating to such computer, computer system, computer network or telecommunications
network, including the amount of monies paid by, or on behalf of,
a public governmental body for such computer, computer system, computer
network or telecommunications network, shall be open.
20.
Credit card numbers, personal identification numbers, digital
certificates, physical and virtual keys, access codes or authorization
codes that are used to protect the security of electronic transactions
between a public governmental body and a person or entity doing business
with a public governmental body. Nothing in this Section shall be
deemed to close the record of a person or entity using a credit card
held in the name of a public governmental body or any record of a
transaction made by a person using a credit card or other method of
payment for which reimbursement is made by a public governmental body.
[R.O. 2008 § 140.080; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006]
In order to allow the fullest cooperation
by employees and members of the public in investigation of matters
wherein an employee of the City is alleged to have engaged in any
form of misconduct, all files, records and documents relating to investigations
of allegations of misconduct by City employees will be considered
to be personnel records and shall be closed records under the custody
of the respective department head.
[R.O. 2008 § 140.090; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006]
A. All information obtained by the City regarding
medical examinations, medical condition or medical history of City
employees or job applicants, if retained by the City, shall be collected
and maintained on separate forms and in separate medical files and
shall be treated as closed and confidential records, except that:
1.
Supervisors and managers may be informed
regarding necessary restrictions on the work duties of employees and
necessary accommodations;
2.
First aid and safety personnel may
be informed, when appropriate, if the information reflects the existence
of a disability which might require emergency treatment; or
3.
Government officials investigating
compliance with State or Federal law pertaining to treatment of persons
with disabilities may be allowed access to such records.
[R.O. 2008 § 140.100; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006]
A. In order to protect reasonable expectations
of privacy on the part of persons having dealings with the City, City
records containing information or entries of a personal, confidential,
private or proprietary nature, including, but not limited to, income,
sales data, financial circumstances, household and family relationships,
social security numbers, dates of birth, insurance information and
other information which reasonable persons generally regard as private
and not a customary subject for public discourse, which information
or entries have been provided to the City by one complying with regulations
requiring the disclosure of such information, shall be excised from
copies of City records disclosed or provided to members of the public
other than those persons to whom the information of entries pertain.
Persons desiring access to information or entries excised from such
records may file a supplementary written request with the custodian
of records for disclosure of material to be specified in the request,
which request should state:
1.
Whether or not the requesting party
has informed persons to whom the requested information pertains of
the request; and
2.
All reasons why the requesting party
believes disclosure by the City of the specified information is in
the public interest.
B. The custodian of records may afford all
interested parties, including the persons to whom the information
pertains, a reasonable time within which to comment on the requested
disclosure prior to acting further on the request. If an interested
person objects to the disclosure of the requested information, the
custodian of records may conduct a hearing at which all interested
parties may be heard. At such hearing the custodian shall consider,
among such other factors as may be reasonable and relevant:
1.
The requirements and intent of State
law, City ordinances and this policy;
2.
The legitimate expectations of privacy
on the part of interested parties;
3.
The personal, confidential, private
or proprietary nature of the information at issue;
4.
Whether the information was obtained
by the City under compulsion of law or was freely and voluntarily
provided by the persons objecting to the disclosure; and
5.
The public purposes to be served
by disclosure of the requested information.
If the custodian of records determines
that disclosure is legally required or would otherwise serve the best
interests of the public and that such requirements or purpose outweigh
the legitimate concerns or interests of the persons to whom the information
pertains, the custodian shall provide the requested information to
the requesting party.
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C. In addition to or in lieu of the hearing described above, the custodian of records may afford all interested parties a reasonable opportunity to seek judicial review of or relief from the proposed disclosure. The custodian may also utilize the procedures for judicial determination and/or opinion solicitation provided in Section
140.130 below.
[R.O. 2008 § 140.110; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006]
If a public record contains material
which is not exempt from disclosure, as well as material which is
exempt from disclosure, the custodian shall separate the exempt and
non-exempt material and make the non-exempt material available for
examination and copying in accord with the policies provided herein.
When designing a public record the custodian shall, to the extent
practicable, facilitate a separation of exempt from non-exempt information.
If the separation is readily apparent to a person requesting to inspect
or receive copies of the form, the custodian shall generally describe
the material exempted unless that description would reveal the contents
of the exempt information and thus defeat the purpose of the exemption.
[R.O. 2008 § 140.120; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006]
A. A public governmental body proposing to
hold a closed meeting or vote may do so by either:
1.
Giving notice of same pursuant to Section
140.020 above along with reference to the specific exception allowing such a closed meeting under State law; or
2.
Upon an affirmative public vote of
the majority of a quorum of the public governmental body. The vote
of each member of the public governmental body on the question of
closing a public meeting or vote and the specific reason for closing
that public meeting or vote by reference to the specific exception
allowing such a closed meeting under State law shall be announced
publicly at an open meeting of the governmental body and entered into
the minutes.
B. If a vote is taken at a closed meeting, minutes of the closed meeting, sufficient to reflect the vote pursuant to Section
140.020 above, shall be recorded.
C. Any meeting or vote closed pursuant to
Section 610.021, RSMo., shall be closed only to the extent necessary
for the specific reason announced to justify the closed meeting or
vote. Public governmental bodies shall not discuss any business in
a closed meeting, record or vote which does not directly relate to
the specific reason announced to justify the closed meeting or vote.
Public governmental bodies holding a closed meeting shall close only
an existing portion of the meeting facility necessary to house the
members of the public governmental body in the closed session, allowing
members of the public to remain to attend any subsequent open session
held by the public governmental body following the closed session.
D. In the event any member of a public governmental
body makes a motion to close a meeting, or a record, or a vote from
the public and any other member believes that such motion, if passed,
would cause a meeting, record or vote to be closed from the public
in violation of any provision in Chapter 610, RSMo., or this Chapter,
such latter member shall state his or her objection to the motion
at or before the time the vote is taken on the motion. The public
governmental body shall enter in the minutes of the public governmental
body any objection made pursuant to this Subsection. Any member making
such an objection shall be allowed to fully participate in any meeting,
record or vote that is closed from the public over the member's objection.
In the event the objecting member also voted in opposition to the
motion to close the meeting, record or vote at issue, the objection
and vote of the member as entered in the minutes shall be an absolute
defense to any claim filed against the objecting member pursuant to
Chapter 610, RSMo.
[R.O. 2008 § 140.130; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006]
The City, or any of its public governmental
bodies, or the custodian of records, when in doubt about the legality
of closing a particular meeting, record or vote, may bring suit at
the expense of the City in the Circuit Court of the County of St.
Charles to ascertain the propriety of any such action or seek a formal
opinion of the Attorney General or of the City Attorney. In such events,
the proposed closed meeting or public access to the record or vote
shall be deferred for a reasonable time pending the outcome of the
actions so taken.
[R.O. 2008 § 140.135; Ord. No. 5110 § 1, 12-14-2006]
A. Records and information that have been
closed pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, Chapter 610, RSMo.,
and other relevant State and Federal laws and regulations are to be
treated as confidential by all employees and elected and appointed
officials of the City.
B. It shall be grounds for disciplinary action
for any employee to:
1.
Violate the confidentiality relating
to such records or information;
2.
Copy or remove closed and/or confidential
information without the specific consent of the custodian thereof
or in the normal course of performing such employee's duties for the
City;
3.
Provide or discuss closed records
or confidential information with any person other than as a necessary
part of performing such employee's duties for the City; or
4.
Divulge, discuss or disclose information
or records addressed in any closed meeting of a public governmental
body, other than as a necessary part of performing such employee's
duties for the City.
C. Elected and appointed officials are also
expected to maintain the same strict standards of confidentiality
required of employees. Breach of the confidentiality standards established
by this Chapter and required of employees in this Section may be grounds
for removal from office or other sanctions as may be deemed appropriate
by the body of which such official is a member or by the City Council.