[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
The City Clerk is hereby designated as the "Custodian of Records" for the City of Peculiar, Missouri. Such designations do not mean that the City Clerk will necessarily have all of the records in his or her possession, but are simply an indication to whom requests for copies of records and information regarding 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.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
All requests for records, notices or information shall be in
writing and shall be accompanied by a deposit of the estimated cost
of reproducing the requested information. Oral requests, if received
by the Custodian of Records, shall be immediately recorded in written
form to document the same. Any request received by the Custodian of
Records shall be initiated, with the date and time of receipt noted.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
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. If someone mails a request to City Hall,
it will be assumed that a mailed response is desired.)
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
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.
If additional delay is necessary, the custodian shall give explanation
for the delay and the date the record will be available.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
The Custodian of Records shall document the response provided
either by (1) making an extra copy of the response and attaching it
to the original request, (2) noting on the request what documents
were provided, or (3) keeping a copy of any letter or note requesting
additional information in order to process the request.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
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.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007; Ord. No. 011811 §1, 1-18-2011]
A.
Fees
for search, retrieval, accompanying and returning to their proper
storage all City documents shall be:
1.
For
a search of fifteen (15) minutes or less — no retrieval fee.
2.
For
a 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.
3.
For
copies that can be made on the City's copy machine or other equipment
available at the City Hall — ten cents ($0.10) per side of a
page.
4.
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.
5.
For
copies and/or DVD duplications of recordings extracted from the Peculiar
Police Department's dashboard cameras, a twenty-five dollar ($25.00)
fee (to include any taxes imposed) for each DVD as well as the fees
provided above for search, retrieval, accompanying and/or returning
the DVD to proper storage.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
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
Section 117.030(B).
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
The Custodian of Records is empowered to waive the collection of any of the fees less than one dollar ($1.00) provided in Section 117.030 above to any resident of the City requesting documents from the City or to any representative of news media that routinely sends a reporter to cover meetings of the City Board of Aldermen. No person or organization shall receive more than three (3) such waivers in any twelve (12) month period.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
All records of the City, which are permitted to be closed records
by reason of the Sunshine Law (RSMo. §610.021) or by any other
Statute of Missouri or by any Statute or regulation of the United
Closed Meetings or Disclosure of Votes 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 prepare an audit report as requested by the City and the City's
Attorney 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.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
No subpoena for a closed record shall be honored. All such subpoenas
shall be referred to the City Attorney for a proper response.
[Ord. No. 041707, 4-17-2007]
Any person employed or working for the City, or 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 a Class C misdemeanor and is subject to conviction
and punishment in Municipal Court 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.
