Editor's Note — Ord. no. 426 §1, adopted August 16,
2004, repealed ch. 120 and enacted new provisions set out herein.
Former ch. 120 derived from ord. no. 13 §§1 — 9, 11
— 13, 6-1-1995; ord. no. 29 §§1 — 2, 6-1-1995;
ord. no. 38 §1, 6-8-1995.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
It is the public policy of the City of Green Park that meetings, records, votes, actions and deliberations of public governmental bodies be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law. To that end, the City hereby adopts all applicable provisions of Chapter 610 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (2000), as amended (hereinafter referred to as the "Missouri Sunshine Law"), as the open meetings and records policy of the City. This Chapter and the Missouri Sunshine Law shall be liberally construed and the exceptions strictly construed to promote this public policy. Except as otherwise provided by law, all public meetings of City public governmental bodies shall be open to the public as set forth in Section 610.020, RSMo., all public records of public governmental bodies shall be open to the public for inspection and copying as set forth in Sections 610.023 to 610.026, RSMo., and all public votes of public governmental bodies shall be recorded as set forth in Section 610.015, RSMo. A copy of the Missouri Sunshine Law shall be kept available for public use, inspection and examination at City Hall during normal business hours.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
A.
The
City Clerk or his or her designee shall be the custodian of records
(referred to herein as the "custodian") and will be responsible for
maintenance and control of all records. The custodian may designate
deputy custodians in operating departments of the City and such other
departments or offices as the custodian may determine. Deputy custodians
shall conduct matters relating to public records and meetings in accord
with the policies enumerated herein. All requests for access to public
records must be made in writing and addressed to the custodian of
records. To maintain the integrity of official records and compliance
with the Missouri Sunshine Law, only the custodian is authorized to
receive and respond to requests subject to Missouri Sunshine Law requests
on behalf of the City.
B.
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 of a public governmental body. 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.
C.
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 that the request
for the statement is received.
D.
It
shall be unlawful for any person to remove original public records
from City Hall or other office of a City public governmental body
or the custodian without written permission of the custodian.
E.
The
City shall not 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.
F.
Drafts,
non-final versions of documents and other work product shall not constitute
a "public record" unless as otherwise required by
law. Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to require retention
of a document not otherwise required by law to be retained.
G.
If
a public record contains material which is not exempt from disclosure
as well as material which is exempt from disclosure, the public governmental
body shall separate the exempt and non-exempt material and make the
non-exempt material available for examination and copying.
H.
The
custodian may require all requests for access to public records to
be on a request for public records form designed by the custodian
which includes, but is not limited to, such information as the date
and time of the request, the name and address of person making request
(or other information as to where person making request can be located)
and the specific public record(s) being requested.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
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
matters set out in Section 610.021, RSMo. (2000), as amended, as well
as other materials designated elsewhere in this Chapter, shall be
closed unless the public governmental body votes to make them public.
Before closing a meeting to the public, a majority of a quorum of
the governmental body shall 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 an open meeting of the
governmental body and entered into the minutes.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
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.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
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. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
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, to the extent authorized by law, 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.
In
addition to any other remedies available to the City provided by law,
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, with the approval of the Board of Aldermen, may also
utilize the procedures for judicial determination and/or opinion solicitation
provided by law.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
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, any 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. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
A.
To
the fullest extent permitted by law, the custodian is authorized to
impose fees for the City's cost of document search, research and duplication
in complying with records requests. The maximum fees to be imposed
by the custodian shall be the maximum amount permitted by the Missouri
Sunshine Law, not to exceed the City's cost.
B.
The
custodian may request and receive payment prior to duplicating and/or
searching for documents.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
A.
The
Board of Aldermen may provide for the legal defense of any member
of any City public governmental body charged with a violation of the
Missouri Sunshine Law.
B.
This
Chapter, along with any supplemental policies adopted by any City
governmental body, shall be considered the City of Green Park Open
Meetings and Records Policy in compliance with the Missouri Sunshine
Law. This Chapter and all other open meetings and records policies
of the City shall be open to public inspection.
C.
Any
member of a City public governmental body or any employee of the City
who complies with the City of Green Park Open Meetings and Records
Policy is not guilty of a violation of the provisions of the Missouri
Sunshine Law or this Chapter nor subject to civil liability for any
act arising out of his adherence to the City of Green Park Open Meetings
and Records Policy.
D.
No
person who in good faith reports a violation of the provisions of
the Missouri Sunshine Law or this Chapter is civilly liable for making
such report, nor, if such person is an officer or employee of a public
governmental body, may such person be demoted, fired, suspended or
otherwise disciplined for making such report.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
A.
No
person shall be entitled access to any closed record except as permitted
by this Section or as may be required by order of a court of competent
jurisdiction. All closed records shall be subject to inspection and
access by the Mayor, Board of Aldermen, City Administrator, City Clerk
and City Attorney subject to the following qualifications:
1.
Lawfully closed records pertaining to the performance or conduct
of any of the above-listed individuals shall be further closed to
such individuals if the document identifies the individual and the
statutory basis for closure on its cover;
3.
No such person who has declared a conflict of interest preventing
that official from acting on the matter shall be entitled to access
the closed record where the record contains information that would
create a conflict of interest or an apparent conflict of interest;
4.
Records otherwise specifically prohibited from disclosure by law
shall be disclosed only as permitted by such law;
5.
Access to a specific document(s) may be established other than as
provided in this Section by an order supported by an affirmative vote
of two-thirds (⅔) of the members of the Board of Aldermen.
[Ord. No. 426 §1, 8-16-2004]
Every Alderman of the City who attends a closed meeting of the
Board of Aldermen, or who has been supplied with closed record(s),
either of which was closed pursuant to the exceptions to the Sunshine
Law contained in Section 610.021, RSMo. (pertaining to "Closed Meetings
and Records"), has a duty to preserve the confidentiality of any and
all information discussed or disclosed in that closed meeting and/or
record. Any Alderman found to have breached this duty may be excluded
from attending subsequent closed meetings or may be denied access
to closed records. A repeated violation of this duty shall be considered
an impeachable offense.
