As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates,
the following terms mean:
Any meeting, record or vote closed to the public.
If requested by a member of the public, copies provided in
accord with the cost schedule established by this Article, if duplication
equipment is available.
All matters which relate in any way to performance of the
City's functions or the conduct of its business.
Any legislative, administrative or governmental entity created
by the Constitution or Statutes of this State, orders or ordinances
of the City, judicial entities when operating in an administrative
capacity, or by executive order, including:
Any advisory committee or commission appointed by the Mayor
or Board of Aldermen.
Any department or division of the City.
Any other legislative or administrative governmental deliberative
body under the direction of three (3) or more elected or appointed
members having rulemaking or quasi-judicial power.
Any committee appointed by or at the direction of any of the
entities and which is authorized to report to any of the above-named
entities, any advisory committee appointed by or at the direction
of any of the named entities for the specific purpose of recommending,
directly to the public governmental body's governing board or its
Chief Administrative Officer, policy or policy revisions or expenditures
of public funds.
Any quasi-public governmental body. The term "quasi-public
governmental body" means any person, corporation or partnership
organized or authorized to do business in this State pursuant to the
provisions of Chapters 352, 353 or 355, RSMo., or unincorporated association
which either:
Has as its primary purpose to enter into contracts with public
governmental bodies or to engage primarily in activities carried out
pursuant to an agreement or agreements with public governmental bodies;
or
Performs a public function, as evidenced by a statutorily or
ordinance-based capacity, to confer or otherwise advance through approval,
recommendation or other means the allocation or issuance of tax credits,
tax abatement, public debt, tax exempt debt, rights of eminent domain,
or the contracting of lease-back agreements on structures whose annualized
payments commit public tax revenues; or any association that directly
accepts the appropriation of money from the City, but only to the
extent that a meeting, record or vote relates to such appropriation.
Any meeting of a public governmental body subject to this
Chapter at which any public business is discussed, decided, or public
policy formulated, whether corporeal or by means of communication
equipment. The term "public meeting" shall not include
an informal gathering of members of a public governmental body for
ministerial or social purposes when there is no intent to avoid the
purposes of this Chapter, but the term shall include a vote of all
or a majority of the members of a public governmental body, by electronic
communication or any other means, conducted in lieu of holding a public
meeting with the members of the public governmental body gathered
at one (1) location in order to conduct public business.
Any record, whether written or electronically stored, retained
by or of any public governmental body including any report, survey,
memorandum, or other document or study prepared and presented to the
public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service
paid for in whole or in part by public funds. The term "public
record" shall not include any internal memorandum or letter
received or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public governmental
body consisting of advice, opinions and recommendations in connection
with the deliberative decision-making process of said body, unless
such records are retained by the public governmental body or presented
at a public meeting.
Any vote cast at any public meeting of any public governmental
body.
A.
All meetings,
records and votes are open to the public, except that any meeting,
record or vote relating to one (1) or more of the following matters,
as well as other materials designated elsewhere in this Chapter, 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 within
seventy-two (72) hours after 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 must 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 (72) 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 an identifiable person,
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.
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.
16.
In
preparation for and implementation of electric restructuring, a municipal
electric utility may close that portion of its financial records and
business plans which contains information regarding the name of the
suppliers of services to said utility and the cost of such services,
and the records and business plans concerning the municipal electric
utility's future marketing and service expansion areas. However, this
exception shall not be construed to limit access to other records
of a municipal electric utility, including but not limited to the
names and addresses of its business and residential customers, its
financial reports, including but not limited to its budget, annual
reports, and other financial statements prepared in the course of
business, and other records maintained in the course of doing business
as a municipal electric utility. This exception shall become null
and void if the State of Missouri fails to implement by December 31,
2001, electric restructuring through the adoption of Statutes permitting
the same in this State.
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.
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.
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 City Clerk for disclosure of material to
be specified in the request, which request should state:
B.
The City
Clerk 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 City Clerk may conduct a hearing at which all interested
parties may be heard. At such hearing the Clerk 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.
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If the City Clerk 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 interest
of the persons to whom the information pertains, the Clerk 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 City Clerk may afford all interested parties a reasonable opportunity to seek judicial review of or relief from the proposed disclosure. The City Clerk may also utilize the procedures for judicial determination and/or opinion solicitation provided in Section 120.120.
A.
All public
governmental bodies shall give notice of the time, date and place
of each meeting, and its tentative agenda, in a manner reasonably
calculated to advise the public of the matters to be considered. Reasonable
notice shall include making available copies of the notice to any
representative of the news media who requests notice of meetings of
a particular public governmental body concurrent with the notice being
made available to the members of the particular governmental body
and posting the notice on the appropriate bulletin board at the City
Hall.
B.
Notice conforming with all of the requirements of Subsection (A) of this Section shall be given at least twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays when City Hall is closed, prior to the commencement of any meeting of a governmental body unless for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical, in which case as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given.
C.
Each governmental body proposing to hold a closed meeting or vote shall give notice of the time, date and place of such closed meeting or vote and the reason for holding it by reference to a specific exception allowed pursuant to Section 120.020 hereof. The notice shall be the same as described in Subsection (A) herein.
D.
A formally
constituted subunit of a parent governmental body may conduct a meeting
without notice during a lawful meeting of the parent governmental
body, a recess in that meeting, or immediately following that meeting,
if the meeting of the subunit is publicly announced at the parent
meeting and the subject of the meeting reasonably coincides with the
subjects discussed or acted upon by the parent governmental body.
A.
Except as set forth in Subsection (C) of Section 120.060, no meeting or vote may be closed without an affirmative public vote of the majority of a quorum of the public governmental body. The vote of each member of the 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 a specific Section of this Chapter shall be announced publicly at an open meeting of the governmental body and entered into the minutes.
B.
Any meeting or vote closed pursuant to Section 120.020 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. Public governmental bodies holding a closed meeting must 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.
A.
Except as provided in Section 120.020, rules authorized pursuant to Article III of the Missouri Constitution and as otherwise provided by law, all votes shall be recorded, and if a roll call is taken, as to attribute each "yea" and "nay" vote, or abstinence if not voting, to the name of the individual member of the public governmental body. Any votes taken during a closed meeting shall be taken by roll call. All public meetings shall be open to the public and public votes and public records shall be open to the public for inspection and duplication.
B.
A journal
or minutes of open meetings shall be taken and retained by the public
governmental body including, but not limited to, a record of any vote
taken at such meeting. The minutes shall include the date, time, place,
members present, members absent and a record of votes taken. When
a roll call vote is taken, the minutes shall attribute each "yea"
and "nay" vote, or abstinence if not voting, to the name of the individual
member of the public governmental body.
A.
Each
meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to the public
and of sufficient size to accommodate the anticipated attendance by
members of the public, and at a time reasonably convenient to the
public, unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible or
impractical. At any public meeting conducted by telephone or other
electronic means, the public shall be allowed to observe and attend
the public meeting at a designated location identified in the notice
of the meeting. Every reasonable effort shall be made to grant special
access to the meeting to handicapped or disabled individuals.
B.
When
it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than twenty-four (24) hours'
notice, or at a place that is not reasonably accessible to the public,
or at a time that is not reasonably convenient to the public, the
nature of the good cause justifying that departure from the normal
requirements shall be stated in the minutes.
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.
[Ord. No. 323 §§1—5,
12, 10-12-2009]
A.
Custodian Of Records Designated. The City Clerk is hereby designated as the "custodian of records" for the City of Diamond, Missouri. Such designation does not mean that the City Clerk will necessarily have all of the records in his or her possession, but simply is an indication to whom requests for copies of records and information regarding the City Government shall be directed. Requests for records made to persons other than the City Clerk shall not be considered to be requests that are made pursuant to the Missouri Sunshine Law, Chapter 610 of the State Statutes. Nonetheless, any official or employee of the City who receives a request is directed to inform the City Clerk of the request in a timely fashion, so that a response may be made to the request.
B.
How Records Are Requested. All requests for records, notices
or information shall be in writing and shall be accompanied by a deposit
of the estimated cost of researching and reproducing the requested
information. Oral requests, if received by the City Clerk, shall be
immediately recorded in written form to document the same. Any request
received by the City Clerk shall be initialed by the Clerk with the
date and time of receipt noted.
C.
Response Desired To Be Noted On Request. The requesting
party shall indicate on the request the manner in which a response
is desired. In absence of instructions to the contrary, it will be
assumed that the requesting party wants to receive a response in the
same form as the original request (Example: If someone stops by City
Hall and requests copies of documents, it will be assumed that the
requesting party will stop by City Hall later to pick up the documents.
But if someone mails in a request to City Hall, it will be assumed
that a mailed response is desired.)
D.
Response Within Three (3) Business Days. The custodian of
records shall respond to the request within three (3) business days
of its receipt. A "business day" is a day when the
City Hall is open for the conduct of City business during its normal
business hours. While it is desirable that the entire transaction
be completed within three (3) business days, there may be circumstances
where clarification or explanation of the request is necessary or
where it may be necessary to provide only part of the requested information
while searches are made to find copies of other documents requested.
E.
Documentation Of Response. The custodian of records shall
document the response provided either by:
F.
Public Notice Board. The custodian of records shall establish
a fixed place where all public notices and agenda will be posted.
This notice board should be in a place that is accessible to members
of the public at times when the City Hall is open and (if possible)
should be lighted and available for public inspection even at times
when City Hall is closed. The notice board shall have the notation
"Public Notices" printed at the top of said board. A window or glass
door at the entrance to City Hall may be used as the notice board,
provided such notices are placed in such a fashion that they can be
read by persons on the outside of City Hall.
A public governmental body or record custodian in doubt about
the legality of closing a particular meeting, record or vote may,
subject to approval by the Board of Aldermen, bring suit at the expense
of the public governmental body in the Circuit Court for the County
of Newton to ascertain the propriety of such action. In addition,
subject to approval by the Board of Aldermen, the public governmental
body or custodian may seek a formal opinion of the Attorney General
or an attorney for the City regarding the propriety of such action.
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.
[Ord. No. 323 §§6—9, 10-12-2009]
A.
Request For Searches. A request for copies of "all documents"
or "every document' of a particular sort involves a request to search
through every record of the City in order for the City to certify
that it has provided "all" or "every" document. Such searches are
expensive. Similarly, a request for records compiled in a format differing
from the format in which the records are customarily retained is a
request for a search and compilation, and can be expensive. As a general
rule, the custodian of records is not expected to engage in extensive
searches or compilations. Any search request that will require more
than fifteen (15) minutes of the custodian's time will be refused
without a substantial advance deposit for the estimated time required
to search for the records.
B.
Fees For Retrieval And Copies. Fees for search, retrieval,
accompanying and returning to their proper storage all City documents
shall be:
1.
For
search of fifteen (15) minutes or less, no retrieval fee.
2.
For
search retrieval, accompanying, and return of documents requiring
more than fifteen (15) minutes, four dollars ($4.00) for each period
of fifteen (15) minutes or less including the first fifteen (15) minute
period. Should the request require special expertise to duplicate
materials, the fee may include the actual rate of compensation for
the trained personnel required to duplicate materials to meet the
request.
3.
Fees
for copies of documents shall be:
a.
For
copies that can be made on the City's copy machine or other equipment
available at City Hall, ten cents ($.10) per side of a page.
b.
For
copies that must be made elsewhere, the actual charges imposed for
making the copies (including any taxes imposed) as well as the fee
provided above for search, retrieval, accompanying, and returning
to proper storage.
C.
Inspection Of Records. To reduce the cost to both the requesting party and the City, the custodian of records may permit a physical inspection of the records by the requesting party to help specify what documents are needed. The custodian may impose such security as is deemed appropriate to guarantee that no record is removed from the City files. The requesting party shall pay the cost of that security at the rate provided in Subsection (B)(2).
D.
Waiver Of Fees. The custodian of records is empowered to waive the collection of any of the fees totaling less than one dollar ($1.00) provided in Subsection (B) above to any citizen of the City requesting documents from the City or to any representative of the news media that routinely sends a reporter to cover meetings of City Board of Aldermen. No person or organization shall receive more than three (3) such waivers in any twelve (12) month period.
[Ord. No. 323 §§10—11, 10-12-2009]
A.
Closed Records And Votes. All records of the City which
are permitted to be closed records by reason of the Sunshine Law or
by any other Statute of Missouri or by any Statute or regulation of
the United States Government shall be maintained as closed records.
No such closed record shall be released to any person who is not a
part of the City government, except that the City's Auditor may see
such records as are reasonably necessary to represent the City. Requests
that closed records be opened to public inspection will be considered
on a case-by-case basis by the City's Board of Aldermen.
B.
Subpoenas For Closed Records. No subpoena for a closed
record shall be honored. All such subpoenas shall be referred to the
City Attorney for a response and for a motion to quash the subpoena.
The only exception to this requirement that will be recognized is
a subpoena from the grand jury or court order.
[Ord. No. 323 §13, 10-12-2009]
Any person employed or working for the City, who has been entrusted
with a record that is marked to indicate that it is "confidential"
or a "closed record", or who has been invited to participate in a
closed meeting who nonetheless discloses any closed record or any
information about the contents of any closed meeting to any person
shall be guilty of an offense under the ordinances of the City and
upon conviction therefore may be punished as provided by law. Any
such person who is employed or working for the City may also be subject
to the termination of their employment as a result of such disclosure.
Any such person who is an elected official may also be subject to
impeachment from their office as a result of such disclosure.
