Editor's Note — Ord. no. 1703, adopted August 23, 2004, superseded ch. 135 and enacted new provisions set out herein. Former ch. 155 derived from the 2003 recodification.
[Ord. No. 2662 §§1 — 6, 12-2-2013]
A. 
The following Subsections are intended to ensure full and open disclosure of the City's public records in accordance with Chapter 610, RSMo.
B. 
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
PUBLIC RECORDS
1. 
As defined by State Statute and provided by the Board of Aldermen, include but are not limited to reports, surveys, memoranda, documents/studies prepared and presented to the Board of Aldermen by consultants or other professional service paid for in any part by public funds, provided that such records are retained by the City of St. Robert.
2. 
The phrase "public records" does not include the following:
a. 
Creation of a document not retained or creation of a summary/compilation of City of St. Robert data where such compilation or summary is not an existing retained record.
b. 
Internal memoranda or correspondence received by or prepared by or on behalf of the Board of Aldermen where such documents involve advice opinions, or recommendations related to the Board of Aldermen's decision-making process. However, if such memoranda or correspondence is retained by the Board of Aldermen or are presented at a public meeting, they will be deemed public records.
c. 
City of St. Robert records closed to public access by the Board of Aldermen, including but not limited to appropriate legal actions, real estate matters, information related to the performance or merit of individual employees, personnel records, software codes, preparation for employee negotiations, specifications for competitive bidding, and sealed bidding.
C. 
Requests for inspection and/or duplication shall be handled in the following manner:
1. 
Requests for access or duplication of the City's public records must be made to the St. Robert City Clerk.
2. 
Upon receipt of a public record, the City Clerk will provide or deny access within three (3) business days of the request. The date of request will not be one of the three (3) business days to provide response. Where reasonable cause exists, the three-day response period may be exceeded upon proper written response to the requestor.
3. 
If access is not immediately provided, the City Clerk will provide the person requesting access with a detailed explanation of the reason for delay. The City Clerk will advise of the earliest date, time and place when access will be provided.
4. 
If access is denied, the City Clerk will provide the person requesting access with a written explanation of the reason for denial of access. The written explanation will provide the specific provision of law relied upon in denying access and will be provided within three (3) business days of the date when access was denied.
5. 
Fees for duplication of the City of St. Robert's public records must be received prior to copying unless the fee has been waived by the Board of Aldermen. Upon request of the person requesting duplication, the City Clerk will certify that the actual cost of document search and duplication does not exceed the allowable charges for public records set out in State law.
D. 
No person is permitted to remove original public records from the City of St. Robert facilities without written permission of the City Clerk. Employees who violate this provision are subject to discipline action up to and including termination.
E. 
No person or business entity will be provided with the exclusive right to have access to, control over, duplication of, and dissemination of the public records of the City of St. Robert.
[Ord. No. 1703, 8-23-2004; Ord. No. 2050 §§1 — 3, 1-7-2008]
A. 
All meetings, records and votes are open to the public, except the governmental body may close any meeting, record or vote relating to the following:
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 vote relating to litigation involving a public governmental body shall be made public upon final disposition of the matter voted upon; 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. 
Lease, 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 vote or public record approving a contract relating to the lease, 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 an employee of a public governmental body. 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 to the public with a record of how each member voted 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 before such decision is made available to the public.
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 earlier of either when the bids are opened or all bids are accepted or all bids 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 that 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. 
Confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body and its auditor, including all auditor work product.
15. 
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 sunset on December 31, 2008.
16. 
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 person 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 within ninety (90) days of submission to determine if retention of the document is necessary in furtherance of a security interest. If retention is not necessary, the documents shall be returned to the non-public governmental body or destroyed.
17. 
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.
18. 
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.
19. 
Pursuant to Section 610.021(3) and (13), RSMo., all personnel records of City employees and officials of the City of St. Robert are closed to the extent permitted by Missouri law.
B. 
All records that may be closed hereby are deemed closed records unless the governmental body votes to make them public. Before closing a meeting to the public, a majority of a quorum of the 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 by reference to a specific exception shall be announced at a public meeting and entered into the minutes.
[Ord. No. 1703, 8-23-2004]
A. 
The governmental body 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 be the same as in Subsection (B) below. No other business may be discussed in a closed meeting that does not directly relate to the specific reason announced to close the meeting to the public. 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.
B. 
The governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, place and tentative agenda of each meeting. The notice shall be placed on the appropriate bulletin board at City Hall at least twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays, prior to the meeting. If an emergency makes it impossible to give twenty-four (24) hours' notice, the reason must be reflected in the minutes. Notice also shall be given to any representative of the new media who requests notice of a particular meeting.
C. 
Each meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to 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.
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.
[Ord. No. 1703, 8-23-2004]
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 permitted without permission of the public body; any person who violates this provisions shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
[Ord. No. 1703, 8-23-2004]
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 Section shall only apply to messages sent to two (2) or more 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 to the exceptions above.
[Ord. No. 1703, 8-23-2004; Ord. No. 1795 §1, 5-23-2005]
A. 
The City Clerk shall be the custodian of records and will be responsible for maintenance and control of all records. The custodian shall provide public access to all public records as soon as possible but no later than the third (3rd) business day following the date the request is received by the custodian. If additional delay is necessary, the custodian shall give an explanation for the delay and the date the record will be available for inspection.
B. 
If a request for access is denied, the custodian 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 the request for the statement is received.
[Ord. No. 1703, 8-23-2004]
A. 
The custodian shall charge ten cents ($0.10) per page, eleven dollars ninety-three cents ($11.93) per hour for duplicating time and the actual cost of research time. The custodian shall receive (or may require) payment prior to duplicating copies.
B. 
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 public governmental body required for making copies and programming, if necessary, and the cost of the disk, 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. The custodian may designate deputy custodians in the following departments: Public Works, Building Department and Park Board.
[Ord. No. 2660 §§1 — 2, 12-2-2013]
A. 
The Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Robert has determined that there is a need to amend the fees charged by the St. Robert Police Department for providing a copy of a motor vehicle accident report or an incident report.
B. 
The Board of Aldermen, having reviewed the City of St. Robert's cost to provide the personnel time and material for reproducing a copy of a motor vehicle accident or incident report, report that the fee for report copies should be five dollars ($5.00). This fee is to be paid by the report recipient to the City of St. Robert for providing copies of the requested report.
[Ord. No. 1795 §1, 5-23-2005]
A. 
This is the stated written policy of the City of St. Robert, Missouri, pursuant to the mandate of Section 610.028.2, RSMo.
1. 
All public records of the City of St. Robert shall be open to the public for inspection and copying.
2. 
The City Clerk shall be the Custodian of Records for the City of St. Robert. The Clerk is located at the St. Robert City Hall. In the event the City Clerk is absent at the time period needed to respond to the Sunshine Act Request, the City Collector will act as the Custodian of Records.
3. 
When a request for access to a public record is received, the records custodian will respond as quickly as possible, but no later than the third (3rd) business day following the date of the request. This means three (3) full business days not counting the day of the request.
4. 
If access is not granted within three (3) days of the request, the custodian of records within the three (3) days must respond to the requesting person informing that person why the request has not be granted within the three (3) days. If the response is to be answered but delayed, the written response to the requesting person will state when and where the response will be produced and the reason for the delay.
5. 
If a request is denied, upon a request for a reason of the denial, the custodian of records shall state the reason for the denial including the Statute that authorizes the denial.
6. 
The costs charged a requesting person for copying documents shall be as follows:
[Ord. No. 2990 § 3, 11-15-2016]
a. 
Ten cents ($0.10) for a page not greater than nine (9) inches by fourteen (14) inches;
b. 
Duplicating time may be charged not to exceed the average hourly pay of the clerical staff of the City of St. Robert;
c. 
A search fee may be charged an amount not to exceed the actual cost of the research time;
d. 
Copies of public records maintained on computer facilities, recording tapes or discs, video tapes or films, pictures, maps, slides, graphics, illustrations and documents larger than nine (9) inches by fourteen (14) inches will be charged at their costs;
e. 
Copying of public records will be charged at the average hourly rate of the staff of the City of St. Robert; and
f. 
Duplication of maps, plats, blueprints and other similar items will be at the actual hourly rate of any specially trained and educated person.
7. 
The custodian may refer any questions to the City Counselor and will accept the written recommendation of the City Counselor.
8. 
Payment of fees may be made of a requesting party prior to the making of copies.
9. 
Any employee who reports a violation of the Sunshine Act shall not be disciplined in any way.
10. 
Any e-mail relating to public business sent by the Mayor or Board of Aldermen to at least two (2) other members such that counting the sender shall be a majority shall also be sent to the custodian of records to be maintained as a government public record.
11. 
All production of public records shall be subject to exemption of Section 610.021, RSMo., and other Federal and State statutory exceptions.
12. 
It is the public policy of the City of St. Robert that meetings, records, votes, actions, and deliberations of this body shall be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law.
13. 
The City of St. Robert shall comply with Sections 610.010 to 610.030, RSMo., known as the Sunshine Law, as now existing or hereafter amended.
14. 
This policy has been passed by legal ordinance of the City.
15. 
The City of St. Robert will comply with any future amendments or additions to the Sunshine Law.
[1]
Editor's Note — Ord. No. 1795, adopted May 23, 2005, was not specifically amendatory of the Code. At the discretion of the editor, the provisions of this ordinance have been codified as an additional section 135.070. Additionally this has amended section 135.050 by inserting the City Clerk as the custodian of records.
[Ord. No. 2903 §§1 — 3, 4-19-2016]
A. 
Meetings Using Video Conference Technology.
1. 
Policy statement. While it is legally permissible for members of the City's public governmental bodies to attend meetings and vote via video conference transmission, a member's use of video conference attendance should occur only sparingly. Because it is good public policy for citizens to have the opportunity to meet with their elected officials face to face, elected members of a public governmental body should endeavor to be physically present at all meetings unless video conference attendance is unavoidable, after exercising due diligence to arrange for physical presence at the meeting.
a. 
The primary purpose of attendance by video conference connection should be to accommodate the public governmental body as a whole to allow meetings to occur when circumstances would otherwise prevent a physical attendance of a quorum of the body's members.
b. 
A secondary purpose of attendance by video conference should be to ensure that all members may participate in business of the public governmental body that is emergency or highly important in nature and arose quickly so as to make attendance at a regular meeting practically impossible.
Except in emergency situations, all efforts should be expended to ensure that a quorum of the members of the public governmental body be physically present at the normal meeting place of the body.
B. 
Video conference defined. For purposes of this Section "video conference" or "videoconferencing" shall refer to a means of communication where at least one (1) member of a public governmental body participates in the public meeting via an electronic connection made up of three (3) components:
1. 
A live video transmission of the member of the public governmental body not in physical attendance;
2. 
A live audio transmission allowing the member of the public governmental body not in physical attendance to be heard by those in physical attendance; and
3. 
A live audio transmission allowing the member of the public governmental body not in physical attendance to hear those in physical attendance at a meeting.
If at any time during a meeting one (1) or more of the elements of a video conference becomes compromise (e.g., If any participants are unable to see, hear, or fully communicate.), then the video conference participant is deemed immediately absent and this absence should be reflected in the minutes. A video conference participant's absence may compromise a quorum in which case the applicable Missouri laws shall take effect regarding a broken quorum.
C. 
Frequency Of Use Of Video Conference Attendance. In keeping with the policy stated in Subsection (A) above, attendance via video conference should only occur sparingly and for good cause.
1. 
Such good cause shall be at the discretion of the Board at the request of a member seeking to attend by video conference, that shall be for significant reasons such as serious illness or injury of the member or a member of his or her immediate family, including father or mother, spouse, sibling, child, or grandchild.
2. 
At the commencement of a meeting of a public governmental body, the attendance of a member by video conference shall be taken up for disclosure and consideration of the good cause for the absence of the member, and a vote taken to approve the attendance via video conference. The vote of the member attending by video conference shall be included. The minutes of the meeting shall record the vote on attendance of the meeting via video conference.
D. 
Physical Location. Members of the public may not participate in a public meeting of a governmental body via video conference. The public wishing to attend a meeting, and elected officials not participating via videoconferencing of the meeting, shall participate at the physical location where meetings of the public governmental body are typically held, or as provided in a notice provided in accordance with the Sunshine Law. The public governmental body shall cause there to be provided at the physical location communication equipment consisting of an audio and visual display, a camera and a microphone so that the members of the public governmental body participating via videoconferencing, the members of the public governmental body in physical attendance, and the public in physical attendance may actively participate in the meaning in accordance with rules of meeting to quorum. The communication equipment at the physical location at the meeting must allow for all meeting attendees to see, hear, and fully communicate with the videoconferencing participant.
E. 
Voting. Elected members of a public governmental body attending a public meeting of that governmental body via video conference are deemed present for purposes of participating in a roll call vote to the same effect elected members of a public governmental body in physical attendance at a public meeting of that governmental body are deemed present. As indicated in that Subsection (B) above, if any component of the video conference communication fails during the meeting, the member attending the meeting by video conference whose connection failed shall be deemed absent immediately upon such failure, and if the public governmental body was in the act of voting, the voting shall stop until all of the components of video conference attendance are again restored and the video conference participant's presence is again noted in the minutes.
F. 
Closed Meetings. In a meeting where a member of a public governmental body is participating via videoconferencing and the meeting goes into a closed session, all provisions of Missouri law and City ordinances relating to closed sessions apply. Upon the public governmental body's vote to close the meeting, all members of the general public shall not be present. Likewise, a member of a public governmental body participating via videoconferencing must ensure there are no members of the public present at their location to see, hear, or otherwise communicate during the closed session. The member must also take all reasonable precautions to guard against interception of communication by others. Failure to ensure the requirements of this Subsection may result in corrective action by the full public governmental body in accordance with City regulations.
G. 
Minutes. In the meeting, whether in open or in closed session, the minutes taken should reflect the member(s), if any, participating via video conference; the members in physical attendance, and members, if any, absent.
H. 
Emergency Meetings. In the event that emergency circumstances create impossibilities for the members of a public governmental body to physically attend, the body as a whole may meet, and if necessary vote, by video conference. Examples of such emergencies circumstances, include, but are not limited to: war, riot, terrorism, widespread fire, or natural disaster, such as earthquake, tornado, hurricane, flood, or blizzard. To the extent possible in such circumstances, the public governmental body shall use reasonable efforts to cause a physical location to be provided for public attendance and participation.
At the commencement of an emergency meeting of a public governmental body, the attendance of member(s) by video conference shall be taken up for discussion and approval, and a vote taken to approve the attendance(s) via video conference. The vote of the member(s) attending via video conference shall be taken. The minutes of the meeting shall record the vote on a member's attendance of the meeting via video conference.
[1]
Editor's Note: Ord. No. 2919 enacted 5-17-2016 clarified and confirmed that the video conference meeting policy adopted by Ord. No. 2903 includes and applies to the Mayor.