[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
As used in this Article, 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 as
detailed in the provisions of this Chapter, if duplication equipment
is available.
All matters which relate in any way to the performance of
the City's functions or the conduct of its business.
Any legislative, administrative, governmental entity created
by the Constitution or Statutes of this State, orders or ordinance
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 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 Mayor or Board of Aldermen, policy or policy revisions
or expenditures of public funds. The custodian of the records of any
public body shall maintain a list of the policy advisory committees
described in this Subsection; and
Any quasi-public governmental body.
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 Article, but the term shall include a public 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 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 Section shall be retained by the public
governmental body in the same manner as any other public record.
Any vote, whether conducted in person, by telephone or by
any other electronic means, cast at any public meeting of any public
governmental body.
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 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 leaseback 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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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 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 government 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 610.111, 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 (72) hour
period before such decision is made available to the public. As used
herein, 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:
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.
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;
d.
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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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 or personnel office.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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 110.260.
D.
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.
1.
It shall be grounds for disciplinary action for any employee to:
a.
Violate the confidentiality relating to such records or information;
b.
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;
c.
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
d.
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.
2.
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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
A.
Each
public governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, place
and tentative agenda of each meeting, 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. 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 a bulletin board at City Hall or other prominent
place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated
for that purpose at the City Hall. The notice shall be given at least
twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays when the
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.
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.
C.
A formally
constituted subunit of a parent governmental body may conduct a meeting
without notice as required by this Section 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.
D.
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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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 the provisions of this Article
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.
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.
C.
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 Article, 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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
A.
A journal
or minutes of open and closed meetings shall be taken and retained
by the public governmental body including, but not limited to, a record
of any votes taken at such meeting. The minutes shall include the
date, time, place, members present, members absent and a record of
any votes taken.
B.
All
votes by members of a public governmental body at any meeting shall
be recorded. 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 body. Any votes taken during a closed
meeting shall be taken by roll call and the minutes of the closed
meeting, sufficient to reflect the vote pursuant to this Subsection,
shall be recorded. 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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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. Every reasonable effort shall be made to grant special
access to the meeting to handicapped or disabled individuals.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
A.
The
City Clerk shall be the custodian of records and will be responsible
for maintenance and control of all records. Deputy custodians shall
conduct matters relating to public records and meetings in accord
with the policies enumerated herein.
B.
Except
as otherwise provided by law, the City shall provide access to and,
upon request, furnish copies of the City's public records subject
to the provisions of the Code of Ordinances relating to copying fees.
No person shall remove original public records from the City Hall
or from the office of the custodian of records without written permission
of the custodian. No public governmental body shall grant to any person
or entity, whether by contract, license or otherwise, the exclusive
right to access and disseminate any public record unless the granting
of such right is necessary to facilitate coordination with, or uniformity
among, industry regulators having similar authority.
C.
The
custodian of records may require persons seeking access to public
records to submit such request in writing and/or on a form designated
by the custodian for such purpose. Such written request shall be sufficiently
particular to reasonably apprize the custodian of the records sought.
D.
Each
request for access to a public record shall be acted upon as soon
as possible, but in no event later than the end of the third (3rd)
business day following the date the request is received by the custodian
of records. If records are requested in a certain format, the public
body shall provide the records in the requested format, if such format
is available. If access to the public record is not granted immediately,
the custodian shall give a detailed explanation of the cause for further
delay and the place and earliest time and date that the record will
be available for inspection. This period for document production may
exceed three (3) days for reasonable cause.
E.
If
a request for access is denied, the custodian of records 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.
F.
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.
[Ord. No. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
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 Pemiscot 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. 2008-11 §1, 9-8-2008]
A.
The
custodian shall charge 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. The custodian shall receive (or may require) payment
prior to duplicating and/or searching for documents.
B.
Fees
for providing access to public records maintained on computer facilities,
recording tapes or disks, video tapes 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 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.
