City of Town And Country, MO Open Meetings and Records

If requested by a member of the public, copies provided in accord with the payment of fees authorized by this Chapter, if duplication equipment is available.

PUBLIC BUSINESS

All matters which relate in any way to the performance of the City's functions or the conduct of its business.

PUBLIC GOVERNMENTAL BODY

Any legislative, administrative or governmental entity created by the Constitution or Statutes of this State or by orders or ordinances of the City, including:

The Board of Aldermen, the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Board of Adjustment and any other board or commission of the City established by law;

Any other commission or committee appointed by the Mayor or Board of Aldermen, including any Advisory Committee appointed for the specific purpose of recommending to the Mayor or Board of Aldermen policy, policy revisions or the expenditure of public funds. The City Clerk shall maintain a list of all City commissions or committees appointed as provided in this definition;

Any other legislative or administrative governmental deliberative body under the direction of three (3) or more elected or appointed members having rule-making or quasi-judicial power;

Any committee appointed by or at the direction of any of the entities noted herein and which is authorized to report to any of the above-named entities; and

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 any 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 appropriations of money from the City, but only to the extent that a meeting, record, or vote relates to such appropriation.

PUBLIC MEETING

Any meeting of a public governmental body subject to this Chapter at which any public business is discussed, decided or public policy formulated, whether such meeting is conducted in person or by means of communication equipment including, but not limited to, conference call, video conference, Internet chat, or Internet message board. 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 public vote of all or a majority of the members of any public governmental body, by electronic communication or 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.

PUBLIC RECORD

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 for the public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service paid for in whole or in part by public funds, including records created or maintained by private contractors under an agreement with a public governmental body or on behalf of a public governmental body. 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 document or study prepared for a public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service as described in this Chapter shall be retained by the public governmental body in the same manner as any other public record.

PUBLIC VOTE

Any vote, whether conducted in person, by telephone or by any other electronic means, cast at any public meeting of any public governmental body.

Section 130.020 Meetings, Records and Votes To Be Public — Exceptions.

[Ord. No. 2260 §1(2-311), 9-28-1998; Ord. No. 2945 §2, 8-24-2004]

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 shall be closed unless the public governmental body votes to make them public:

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 authorized agent or entity, 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 the plaintiff(s) to the action clearly outweighs the public policy considerations of this Chapter, 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.

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.

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 (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.

Non-judicial mental or physical health proceedings involving an identifiable person, including medical, psychiatric, psychological, or alcoholism or drug dependency diagnosis or treatment.

Testing and examination materials, before the test or examination is given or, if it is to be given again, before so given again.

Welfare cases of identifiable individuals.

Preparation, including any discussions or work product, on behalf of a public governmental body or its representatives for negotiations with employee groups.

Software codes for electronic data processing and documentation thereof.

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; 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. This exception shall expire and be of no further force or effect on December 31, 2008.

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.

Records related to the procurement of or expenditures relating to security systems purchased with public funds shall be open;

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;

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;

This exception shall expire and be of no further force or effect on December 31, 2008.

18.

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.

19.

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.

Section 130.030 Public Meetings.

[Ord. No. 2260 §1(2-312), 9-28-1998; Ord. No. 2945 §3, 8-24-2004]

Notice.

Each governmental body 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, and if the meeting will be conducted by telephone or other electronic means, the notice of the meeting shall identify the mode by which the meeting will be conducted and the designated location where the public may observe and attend the meeting. If a public body plans to meet by Internet chat, Internet message board or other computer link, it shall post a notice of the meeting on its website in addition to its principal office and shall notify the public how to access that meeting. The notice shall be posted on the appropriate bulletin board or other such accessible public place at the City Hall at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the meeting, exclusive of weekends and holidays when the City Hall is closed. If for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical, as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given. Notice shall also be given 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.

If another provision of law requires a manner of giving specific notice of a meeting, hearing or intent to take action by a governmental body, compliance with that provision shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements of this Chapter.

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 public body shall allow for the recording by audiotape, videotape or other electronic means of any open meeting. A public body may establish guidelines regarding the manner in which such recording is conducted so as to minimize disruption to the meeting. No audio recording of any meeting, record or vote closed pursuant to the provisions of Section 610.021, RSMo., shall be allowed without permission of the public body; any person who violates this provision shall be guilty of an ordinance violation and punished by imprisonment for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) days, a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Minutes. A journal or minutes of open and closed meetings shall be taken and retained by the City 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. Votes by members of a public governmental body at any meeting shall be recorded. When a roll call 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. Any votes taken during a closed meeting shall be taken by roll call. All votes taken by roll call in meetings of a public governmental body consisting of members who are all elected, except for the Missouri General Assembly and any committee established by a public governmental body, shall be cast by members of the public governmental body who are physically present and in attendance at the meeting. When it is necessary to take votes by roll call in a meeting of the public governmental body, due to an emergency of the public body, with a quorum of the members of the public body physically present and in attendance and less than a quorum of the members of the public governmental body participating via telephone, facsimile, Internet, or any other voice or electronic means, the nature of the emergency of the public body justifying that departure from the normal requirements shall be stated in the minutes. Where such emergency exists, the votes taken shall be regarded as if all members were physically present and in attendance at the meeting.

Accessibility. 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. 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. Every reasonable effort shall be made to grant special access to the meeting to handicapped or disabled individuals.

Section 130.040 Closed Meeting.

[Ord. No. 2260 §1(2-313), 9-28-1998; Ord. No. 2945 §4, 8-24-2004]

Calling A Closed Meeting Or Vote. Before closing a meeting to the public, a majority of a quorum of a governmental body must vote to do so in a public vote. The vote of each member of the governmental body on the question of closing the meeting or vote and the reason for closing the meeting or vote by reference to a specific exception shall be announced at a public meeting and entered into the minutes.

Notice. Each governmental body proposing to hold a closed meeting shall give notice of the time, date and place of a closed meeting and the reason for holding it by reference to a specific exception. The notice shall otherwise be the same as described in Section 130.030(A)(1).

Closed Meeting Procedure.

No other business may be discussed in a closed meeting which does not directly relate to the specific reason announced to close the meeting to the public.

Any vote taken during a closed meeting shall be taken by roll call.

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 the public to remain to attend any subsequent open session held by the public governmental body following the closed session.

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 pursuant to Chapter 610, RSMo.

Section 130.050 Open Records.

[Ord. No. 2260 §1(2-314), 9-28-1998; Ord. No. 2945 §5, 8-24-2004]

City Clerk's Duties.

The City Clerk shall be the custodian of records and will be responsible for maintenance and control of all records. The Clerk may designate deputy custodians in operating departments of the City and such other departments or offices as the Clerk may determine. Deputy custodians shall conduct matters relating to public records and meetings in accord with the policies enumerated herein.

The Clerk shall provide public access to all public records for inspection and copying as soon as possible but no later than the third (3rd) business day following the date the request is received by the Clerk. If records are requested in a certain format, the public body shall provide the records in the requested format, if such format is available. No person shall remove original public records from the office of the public governmental body or the Clerk without written permission of the Clerk. If access to the public record is not granted immediately, the Clerk shall give a detailed explanation of the causes for further delay and the place and earliest time and date that the record will be available for inspection. The period for document production may exceed three (3) days for reasonable cause.

If a request for access is denied, the Clerk shall provide, upon request, a written statement of the grounds for such denial. Such statement shall cite the specific provision of law under which access is denied and shall be furnished to the requester no later than the end of the third (3rd) business day following the date that the request for the statement is received.

Any member of a public governmental body who transmits any message relating to public business by electronic means shall also concurrently transmit that message to either the member's public office computer or the custodian of records in the same format. The provisions of this Subsection shall only apply to messages sent to other members of that body so that, when counting the sender, a majority of the body's members are copied. Any such message received by the custodian or at the member's office computer shall be a public record subject, however, to the exceptions for closed records as provided by law.

Fees.

Upon request, the Clerk shall furnish copies of public records, and the public governmental body prescribe reasonable fees for copying which shall not exceed ten cents ($.10) per page for a paper copy not larger than nine (9) by fourteen (14) inches, plus an hourly fee for duplicating time not to exceed the average hourly rate of pay for clerical staff of the City. Research time required for fulfilling records requests may be charged at the actual cost of research time. Based on the scope of the request, the City shall produce the copies using employees of the City that result in the lowest amount of charges for search, research and duplication time. Prior to producing copies of the requested records, the person requesting the records may request the City to provide an estimate of the cost to the person requesting the records.

Fees for providing access to public records maintained on computer facilities, recording tapes or disks, videotapes or films, pictures, maps, slides, graphics, illustrations or similar audio or visual items or devices and for paper copies larger than nine (9) by fourteen (14) inches shall include only the cost of copies, staff time, which shall not exceed the average hourly rate of pay for staff of the City required for making copies and programming, if necessary, and the cost of the disk or tape or other medium used for the duplication. Fees for maps, blueprints or plats that require special expertise to duplicate may include the actual rate of compensation for the trained personnel required to duplicate such maps, blueprints or plats. If programming is required beyond the customary and usual level to comply with a request for records or information, the fees for compliance may include the actual costs of such programming. Payment of such fees may be requested prior to the making of copies. The City Clerk is authorized and directed to establish a schedule of fees.

Section 130.060 Police Records.

[Ord. No. 2260 §1(2-315), 9-28-1998; Ord. No. 2621 §1, 9-25-2001; Ord. No. 2945 §6, 8-24-2004]

Definitions. As used in this Section, the following words and phrases shall mean:

ARREST

An actual restraint of the person of the defendant, or by his/her submission to the custody of a Police Officer, under authority of a warrant or otherwise for a criminal violation which results in the issuance of a summons or the person being booked.

ARREST REPORT

A record of the Police Department of an arrest and of any detention or confinement incident thereto together with the charge therefor.

INACTIVE

An investigation in which no further action will be taken by the Police Department or officer for any of the following reasons:

A decision not to pursue the case;

Expiration of the time to file criminal charges pursuant to the applicable statute of limitations, or ten (10) years after the commission of the offense; whichever date earliest occurs;

Finality of the convictions of all persons convicted on the basis of the information contained in the investigative report, by exhaustion of or expiration of all rights of appeal of such persons.

INCIDENT REPORT

A record of the Police Department consisting of the date, time, specific location, name of the victim and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident, including any logs of reported crimes, accidents and complaints maintained by that agency.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

A record, other than an arrest or incident report, prepared by Police Department personnel inquiring into a crime or suspected crime, either in response to an incident report or in response to evidence developed by Police Officers in the course of their duties.

The Police Department shall maintain records of all incidents reported to the department and all investigations and arrests made by the department. All incident reports and arrest reports shall be open records. Except as provided in Subsection (D) of this Section, and except as provided in Section 320.083, RSMo., the Police Department's investigative reports are closed records until the investigation becomes inactive. If any person is arrested and not charged with an offense against the law within thirty (30) days of the person's arrest, the arrest report shall thereafter be a closed record except that the disposition portion of the record may be accessed and except as provided in Subsection (D)(3) of this Section.

Except as provided in this Section, if any portion of a record or document of a Police Officer or the Police Department, other than an arrest report, which would otherwise be open, contains information that is reasonably likely to pose a clear and present danger to the safety of any victim, witness, undercover officer, or other person; or jeopardize a criminal investigation, including records which would disclose the identity of a source wishing to remain confidential or a suspect not in custody; or which would disclose techniques, procedures or guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, that portion of the record shall be closed and shall be redacted from any record made available pursuant to this Chapter.

Disclosure Of Closed Reports.

Any person, attorney for a person, or insurer of a person involved in any incident or whose property is involved in an incident, may obtain any records closed pursuant to this Section or for purposes of investigation of any civil claim or defense, as provided herein. Any such person, or the attorney or insurer of such a person, upon written request may obtain a complete unaltered and unedited incident report concerning the incident, and may obtain access to other records closed by the Police Department pursuant to this Section. Within thirty (30) days of such request, the department shall provide the requested material or file a motion pursuant to Section 610.100.4, RSMo., with the St. Louis County Circuit Court seeking to prohibit the disclosure of the requested material.

Any person, attorney for a person, or insurer of a person involved in any incident or whose property is involved in an incident, may obtain any records closed pursuant to this Section or Section 610.150, RSMo., for purposes of investigation of any civil claim or defense, as provided by this Subsection. Any individual, his/her attorney or insurer, involved in an incident or whose property is involved in an incident, upon written request, may obtain a complete unaltered and unedited incident report concerning the incident, and may obtain access to other records closed by a law enforcement agency pursuant to this Section. Within thirty (30 days of such request, the agency shall provide the requested material or file a motion pursuant to this Subsection with the Circuit Court having jurisdiction over the law enforcement agency stating that the safety of the victim, witness or other individual cannot be reasonably ensured, or that a criminal investigation is likely to be jeopardized. If, based on such motion, the court finds for the law enforcement agency, the court shall either order the record closed or order such portion of the record that should be closed to be redacted from any record made available pursuant to this Subsection.

Except as provided by this Section, any information acquired by a law enforcement agency by way of a complaint or report of a crime made by telephone contact using the emergency number, "911", shall be inaccessible to the general public. However, information consisting of the date, time, specific location and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of the crime or incident shall be considered to be an incident report and subject to Section 610.100, RSMo. Any closed records pursuant to this Section shall be available upon request by law enforcement agencies or the Division of Workers' Compensation or pursuant to a valid court order authorizing disclosure upon motion and good cause shown.

If the person arrested is charged but the case is subsequently nolle prossed, dismissed, or the accused is found not guilty or imposition of sentence is suspended in the court in which the action is prosecuted, official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records when such case is finally terminated except as provided in Section 610.120, RSMo., and except that the court's judgment or order or the final action taken by the prosecutor in such matters may be accessed. If the accused is found not guilty due to mental disease or defect pursuant to Section 552.030, RSMo., official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records upon such findings, except that the disposition may be accessed only by law enforcement agencies, child-care agencies, facilities as defined in Section 198.006, RSMo., and in-home services provider agencies as defined in Section 660.250, RSMo., in the manner established by Section 610.120, RSMo.

The City of Town and Country Police Department, if it maintains a daily log or record that lists suspected crimes, accidents or complaints, shall make available the following information for inspection and copying by the public:

The time, substance and location of all complaints or requests for assistance received by the Police Department;

The time and nature of the Police Department's response to all complaints or requests for assistance; and

If the incident involves an alleged crime or infraction:

The time, date and location of occurrence;

The name and age of any victim, unless the victim is a victim of a crime under Chapter 566, RSMo.;

The factual circumstances surrounding the incident; and

A general description of any injuries, property or weapons involved.

Section 130.070 Closed Records — Penalty For Breach of Confidentiality of Closed Matters.

[Ord. No. 2260 §1(2-316), 9-28-1998; Ord. No. 2945 §7, 8-24-2004]

Medical Records. 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:

Supervisors and managers may be informed regarding necessary restrictions on the work duties of employees and necessary accommodations;

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

Government officials investigating compliance with State or Federal law pertaining to treatment of persons with disabilities may be allowed access to such records.

Segregation Of Exempt Material. If a public record contains material which is not exempt from disclosure, as well as material which is exempt from disclosure, the Clerk 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 Clerk 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 Clerk 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.

Maintenance Of Closed Records. Records required to be closed shall not be destroyed, but they shall be inaccessible to the general public and to all persons other than those authorized by ordinance or State law, including but not limited to Section 610.120, RSMo.

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.

It shall be grounds for disciplinary action for any employee to:

Violate the confidentiality relating to such records or information;

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;

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

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.

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 Board of Aldermen.

Section 130.080 Procedures For Resolving Questions of Public Accessibility.

[Ord. No. 2260 §1(2-317), 9-28-1998]

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 in the Circuit Court for the County of St. Louis 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.

Section 130.090 (Reserved) [1]

[1]

Editor's Note — Ord. no. 2945 §8, adopted August 24, 2004, repealed section 130.090 "fees" is its entirety. Former section 130.090 derived from ord. no. 2295 §1, 1-25-1999. At the editor's discretion, this section has been reserved for the city's future use.