[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of
Coloma 6-30-1994 as Title 2, Ch.
9, of the 1994 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any of the following Village entities having custody of a
Village record: an office, elected official, agency, board, commission,
committee, council, department or public body corporate and politic
created by constitution, law, ordinance, rule or order; or a formally
constituted subunit of the foregoing.
That officer, department head, or employee of the Village designated under § 126-3 or otherwise responsible by law to keep and preserve any Village records or files, deposit or keep such records in his/her office, or is lawfully in possession or entitled to possession of such public records and who is required by this section to respond to requests.
Any material on which written, drawn, printed, spoken, visual
or electromagnetic information or electronically generated or stored
data is recorded or preserved, regardless of physical form or characteristics,
which has been created or is being kept by an authority. This includes,
but is not limited to, handwritten, typed or printed pages, maps,
charts, photographs, films, recordings, tapes, optical disks, and
any other medium on which electronically generated or stored data
is recorded or preserved. It does not include drafts, notes, preliminary
computations and like materials prepared for the originator's
personal use or prepared by the originator in the name of a person
for whom the originator is working; materials which are purely the
personal property of the custodian and have no relation to his/her
office; materials to which access is limited by copyright, patent
or bequest; and published materials in the possession of an authority
other than a public library which are available for sale, or which
are available for inspection at a public library.[1]
A.
Except as provided under § 126-8, each officer and employee of the Village shall safely keep and preserve all records from his/her predecessor or other persons and required by law to be filed, deposited or kept in his/her office or which are in the lawful possession or control of the officer or employee of his/her deputies, or to the possession or control of which he/she or they may be lawfully entitled as such officers or employees.
B.
Upon the expiration of an officer's term of office or an employee's
term of employment, or whenever the office or position of employment
becomes vacant, each such officer or employee shall deliver to his/her
successor all records then in his/her custody and the successor shall
receipt therefor to the officer or employee, who shall file said receipt
with the Clerk/Treasurer. If a vacancy occurs before a successor is
selected or qualifies, such records shall be delivered to and receipted
for by the Clerk/Treasurer, on behalf of the successor, to be delivered
to such successor upon the latter's receipt.
A.
Each elected official is the legal custodian of his/her records and
the records of his/her office, but the official may designate an employee
of his/her staff to act as the legal custodian.
B.
Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Clerk/Treasurer or his/her
designee shall act as legal custodian for the Village Board and for
any committees, commissions, boards, or other authorities created
by ordinance or resolution of the Village Board.
D.
Each legal custodian shall name a person to act as legal custodian
in his/her absence or the absence of his/her designee.
A.
Except as provided in § 126-6, any person has a right to inspect a record and to make or receive a copy of any record as provided in § 19.35(1), Wis. Stats.
B.
Records will be available for inspection and copying during all regular
office hours.
C.
If regular office hours are not maintained at the location where
records are kept, the records will be available for inspection and
copying upon at least 48 hours' advance notice of intent to inspect
or copy.
D.
A requester shall be permitted to use facilities comparable to those
available to Village employees to inspect copy or abstract a record.
E.
The legal custodian may require supervision during inspection or
may impose other reasonable restrictions on the manner of access to
an original record if the record is irreplaceable or easily damaged.
F.
A requester shall be charged a fee to defray the cost of locating
and copying a record as follows:
(1)
The cost of photocopying shall be $0.25 per standard page and $0.50
per legal page. Said cost has been calculated not to exceed the actual,
necessary and direct cost of reproduction.
(2)
If the form of a written record does not permit copying, the actual
and necessary cost of photographing and photographic processing shall
be charged.
(3)
The actual full cost of providing a copy of other records not in
printed form on paper, such as films, computer printouts and audio-
or videotapes, shall be charged.
(4)
If mailing or shipping is necessary, the actual cost thereof shall
also be charged.
(5)
There shall be no charge for locating a record unless the actual
cost therefor exceeds $50, in which case the actual cost shall be
determined by the legal custodian and billed to the requester.
(6)
The legal custodian shall estimate the cost of all applicable fees
and may require a cash deposit adequate to assure payment, if such
estimate exceeds $5.
(7)
Elected and appointed officials of the Village of Coloma shall not
be required to pay for public records they may reasonably require
for the proper performance of their official duties.
(8)
The legal custodian may provide copies of a record without charge
or at a reduced charge where he/she determines that waiver or reduction
of the fee is in the public interest.
G.
Pursuant to § 19.34, Wis. Stats., and the guidelines listed,
each authority shall adopt, prominently display and make available
for inspection and copying at its offices, for the guidance of the
public, a notice containing a description of its organizations and
the established times and places at which, the legal custodian from
whom, and the methods whereby, the public may obtain information and
access to records in its custody, make requests for records, or obtain
copies of records, and the costs thereof. This subsection does not
apply to members of the Village Board.
A.
A request to inspect or copy a record shall be made to the legal custodian. A request shall be deemed sufficient if it reasonably described the requested record or the information requested. However, a request for a record without a reasonable limitation as to subject matter or length of time represented by the record does not constitute a sufficient request. A request may be made orally, but a request must be in writing before an action to enforce the request is commenced under § 19.37, Wis. Stats. Except as provided below, no request may be refused because the person making the request is unwilling to be identified or to state the purpose of the request. No request may be refused because the request is received by mail, unless prepayment of a fee is required under § 126-4F(6). A requester may be required to show acceptable identification whenever the requested record is kept at a private residence or whenever security reasons or federal law or regulations so require.
B.
Each custodian, upon request for any record, shall, as soon as practicable
and without delay, either fill the request or notify the requester
of the authority's determination to deny the request in whole
or in part and the reasons therefor. If the legal custodian, after
conferring with the Village Attorney, determines that a written request
is so general as to be unduly time consuming, the party making the
request may first be required to itemize his/her request in a manner
which would permit reasonable compliance.
C.
A request for a record may be denied as provided in § 126-6. If a request is made orally, the request may be denied orally unless a demand for a written statement of the reasons denying the request is made by the requester within five business days of the oral denial. If a written request is denied in whole or in part, the requester shall receive a written statement of the reasons for denying the request. Every written denial of a request shall inform the requester that if the request for the record was made in writing, then the determination is subject to review under § 19.37(1), Wis. Stats., or upon application to the attorney general or a district attorney.
D.
All records pertaining to the affairs of the government of the Village
of Coloma shall be located at the Village Hall and shall not be removed
or borrowed from the Village Hall for any reason. Said records may,
upon request and proper appointment made, be viewed at the office
of the Clerk/Treasurer in the presence of one of the Village officers
or Clerk/Treasurer and shall be accessible to the public as set forth
in this chapter.
A.
As provided by § 19.36, Wis. Stats., the following records
are exempt from inspection under this chapter:
(1)
Records specifically exempted from disclosure by state or federal
law or authorized to be exempted from disclosure by state law;
(2)
Any record relating to investigative information obtained for law
enforcement purposes if federal law or regulations require exemption
from disclosure or if exemption from disclosure is a condition to
receipt of aids by the state;
(3)
Computer programs, although the materials used as input for computer
programs or the material produced as a product of the computer program
is subject to inspection; and
B.
As provided by § 43.30, Wis. Stats., public library circulation
records are exempt from inspection under this section.
C.
In responding to a request for inspection or copying of a record
which is not specifically exempt from disclosure, the legal custodians,
after conferring with the Village Attorney, may deny this request,
in whole or in part, only if he/she determines that the harm to the
public interest resulting from disclosure would outweigh the public
interest in full access to the requested record. Examples of matters
for which disclosure may be refused include, but are not limited to
the following:
(1)
Records obtained under official pledges of confidentiality which
were necessary and given in order to obtain the information contained
in them.
(2)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(a), Wis. Stats., records of current
deliberations after a quasi-judicial hearing.
(3)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(a)(b) and (c), Wis. Stats., records
of current deliberations concerning employment, dismissal, promotion,
demotion, compensation, performance, or discipline of any Village
officer or employee, or the investigation of charges against a Village
officer or employee, unless such officer or employee consents to such
disclosure.
(4)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(d), Wis. Stats., records concerning
current strategy for crime detection or prevention.
(5)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(e), Wis. Stats., records of current
deliberations or negotiations on the purchase of Village property,
investing of Village funds, or other Village business whenever competitive
or bargaining reasons require nondisclosure.
(6)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(f), Wis. Stats., financial, medical,
social or personal histories of disciplinary data of specific persons
which, if disclosed, would be likely to have a substantial adverse
effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such history
or date.
(7)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(g), Wis. Stats., communications
between legal counsel for the Village and any officer, agent or employee
of the Village, when advice is being rendered concerning strategy
with respect to current litigation in which the Village or any of
its officers, agents, or employees is or is likely to become involved,
or communications which are privileged under § 905.03, Wis.
Stats.
(8)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(h), Wis. Stats., requests for confidential
written advice from an ethics board, and records of advice given by
such ethics board on such requests.
D.
If a record contains information that may be made public and information
that may not be made public, the custodian of the record shall provide
the information that may be made public and delete the information
that may not be made public from the record before release. The custodian
shall confer with the Village Attorney prior to releasing any such
record and shall follow the guidance of the Village Attorney when
separating the exempt material. If, in the judgment of the custodian
and the Village Attorney, there is no feasible way to separate the
exempt material from the nonexempt material without unreasonably jeopardizing
nondisclosure of the exempt material, the entire record shall be withheld
from disclosure.
A.
Village officers may destroy the following nonutility financial records
of which they are the legal custodians and which are considered obsolete,
after completion of any required audit by the Department of Revenue
or an auditor licensed under Ch. 442, Wis. Stats., but not less than
seven years after payment or receipt of any sum involved in the particular
transaction, unless a shorter period has been fixed by the State Public
Records Board pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e), Wis. Stats., and
then after such shorter period:[1]
(1)
Bank statements, deposit books, slips and stubs;
(2)
Bonds and coupons after maturity;
(3)
Canceled checks, duplicates and check stubs;
(4)
License and permit applications, stubs and duplicates;
(5)
Payrolls and other time and employment records of personnel included
under the Wisconsin Retirement Fund;
(6)
Receipt forms;
(7)
Special assessment records; and
(8)
Vouchers, requisitions, purchase orders and all other supporting
documents pertaining thereto.
B.
Village officers may destroy the following utility records of which
they are the legal custodians and which are considered obsolete after
completion of any required audit by the Department of Revenue or an
auditor licensed under Ch. 422, Wis. Stats., subject to State Public
Service Commission regulations, but not less than seven years after
the record was effective unless a shorter period has been fixed by
the State Public Records Board pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e),
Wis. Stats., and then after such a shorter period, except that water
stubs, receipts of current billings and customers' ledgers may
be destroyed after two years:[2]
C.
Village officers may destroy the following records of which they
are the legal custodian and which are considered obsolete, but not
less than seven years after the record was effective unless another
period has been set by statute, and then after such a period, or unless
a shorter period has been fixed by the State Public Records Board
pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e), Wis. Stats., and then after such
a shorter period:
(1)
Contracts and papers relating thereto;
(2)
Correspondence and communications;
(3)
Finance reports other than annual financial reports;
(4)
Justice dockets;
(5)
Oaths of office;
(6)
Reports of boards, commissions, committees and officials duplicated
in the Village Board proceedings;
(7)
Election notices and proofs of publication;
(8)
Canceled voter registration cards;
(9)
Official bonds;
(10)
Police records other than investigative records; and
(11)
Resolutions and petitions.
D.
Unless notice is waived by the State Historical Society, at least
60 days' notice shall be given the State Historical Society prior
to the destruction of any record as provided by § 19.21(4)(a),
Wis. Stats.
E.
Any tape recordings of a governmental meeting of the Village may
be destroyed, erased or reused no sooner than 90 days after the minutes
of the meeting have been approved and published, if the purpose of
the recording was to make minutes of the meeting.
Any Village officer, or the director of any department or division of Village government may, subject to the approval of the Village Board, keep and preserve public records in his/her possession by means of microfilm or other photographic reproduction method. Such records shall meet the standards for photographic reproduction set forth in § 16.61(7)(a) and (b), Wis. Stats., and shall be considered original records for all purposes. Such records shall be preserved along with other files of the department or division and shall be open to public inspection and copying according to the provisions of state law and of §§ 126-4 through 126-7 of this chapter.
