[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of Trustees of the Village of Slinger as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted as Sec. 1.11 of the former Municipal Code]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTHORITY
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.
CUSTODIAN
That officer, department head, division head, or employee of the Village designated under the definition of "employee" in this section or otherwise responsible by law to keep and preserve any Village records or file, deposit or keep such records in his or 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 for access to such records.
EMPLOYEE
Any individual who is employed by the Village, other than an individual holding local public office.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018[1]]
RECORD
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, that has been created or is being kept by an authority. "Record" includes, but is not limited to, handwritten, typed or printed pages, maps, charts, photographs, films, recordings, tapes, optical discs, and any other medium on which electronically generated or stored data is recorded or preserved. "Record" 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 that are purely the personal property of the custodian and have no relation to his or 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 that are available for sale, or that are available for inspection at a public library.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed the former definition of "local public office," which immediately followed this definition.
A. 
Except as provided under § 116-7, each officer and employee of the Village shall safely keep and preserve all records received from his or her predecessor or other persons and required by law to be filed, deposited or kept in his or her office or which are in the lawful possession or control of the officer or employee or his or her deputies, or to the possession or control of the officer or employee or his deputies, or to the possession or control of which he or she or they may be lawfully entitled as such officers or employees.
B. 
Upon the expiration of an officer's term of employment, or whenever the office or position of employment becomes vacant, each such officer or employee shall deliver to his or her successor all records then in his or her custody and the successor shall receipt therefor to the officer or employee, who shall file said receipt with the Village Clerk. If a vacancy occurs before a successor is selected or qualifies, such records shall be delivered to and receipted for by the Clerk, on behalf of the successor, to be delivered to such successor upon the latter's receipt.
A. 
Although all public records requests should be made to the Village Clerk, each elected official is the legal custodian of his or her records and the records of his or her office, but the official may designate an employee of his or her staff to act as the legal custodian.
B. 
Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Village Clerk or the Clerk's designee shall act as legal custodian for the Village Board and for any committees, commission, boards, or other authorities created by ordinance or resolution of the Village Board.
C. 
For every authority not specified in Subsection A or B, the authority's chief administrative officer holding local public office is the legal custodian for the authority, but the officer may designate an employee of his or her staff to act as the legal custodian.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018; 1-20-2020 by Ord. No. 01-03-2020]
A. 
Except as provided in § 116-6, 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.
(1) 
Prohibitions for access to records are defined by § 19.35(1)(am)1, 2, and 3, Wis. Stats and will be strictly enforced, specifically any request for electronic records or surveillance videos records that:
(a) 
Contains personally identifiable information that is collected or maintained in connection with a complaint, investigation or other circumstances that may lead to an enforcement action, administrative proceeding, arbitration proceeding or court proceeding, or any such record that is collected or maintained in connection with such an action or proceeding.
(b) 
Any video record containing personally identifiable information that, if disclosed, would endanger an individual's life or safety.
(c) 
Identify a confidential informant.
(d) 
Endanger the security, including the security of the population or staff, of any state prison under W.S.A. 302.01, jail, as defined in W.S.A. 165.85(2)(bg), juvenile correctional facility, as defined in W.S.A. 938.02(10p), secured residential care center for children and youth, as defined in W.S.A. 938.02(15g), mental health institute, as defined in W.S.A. 51.01(12), center for the developmentally disabled, as defined in W.S.A. 51.01(3), or facility, specified under W.S.A. 980.065, for the institutional care of sexually violent persons.
(e) 
Compromise the rehabilitation of a person in the custody of the department of corrections or detained in a jail or facility identified in statutes.
B. 
Records will be available for inspection and copying during all regular office hours. Original records shall not be removed from the premises by the public.
(1) 
Access to video surveillance records will be made by appointment with the Slinger Police Department, with a member of the department that is duly authorized to access video management systems.
(2) 
Access will be limited to surveillance systems in use by the Village of Slinger and not by the Slinger Police Department. Access to the Slinger Police Department surveillance system will be done in accordance with the policies, procedures and general orders of the Slinger Police Department.
(3) 
It will be understood that copying, duplicating or otherwise replicating video surveillance footage can be time consuming; therefore, immediate duplication may not occur, and will be completed in timely fashion, in accordance with Wisconsin State Statutes.
A. 
A request to inspect or copy a record shall be made to the Village Clerk. The Village Clerk will either respond to the request directly or forward it on to the appropriate record custodian for a response. A request shall be deemed sufficient if it reasonably describes 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.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018]
B. 
The Village Clerk or the records custodian to whom the request has been forwarded, 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 Village Clerk or 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 or her request in a manner which would permit reasonable compliance.
C. 
A request for a record may be denied as provided in § 116-6. 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 upon petition for a writ of mandamus under § 19.37(1), Wis. Stats., or upon application to the Attorney General or a district attorney.
A. 
Although not intended to be exhaustive, the following list of records are exempt from inspection under this section pursuant to § 19.36, Wis. Stats., and other applicable law:
(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 material used as input for a computer program or the material produced as a product of the computer program is subject to inspection.
(4) 
A record or any portion of a record containing information qualifying as a trade secret under § 134.90(1)(c), Wis. Stats.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018]
(5) 
Information maintained, prepared, or provided by the Village concerning the home address, home electronic e-mail address, home telephone number, or social security number of an employee or an individual holding local public office, unless the employee or individual holding local public office authorizes the Village to provide access to such information.
(6) 
Information relating to the current investigation of a possible criminal offense or possible misconduct connected with employment by an employee prior to the disposition of the investigation.
(7) 
Information pursuant to the employee's employment examination, except an examination score if access to the score is not otherwise prohibited.
(8) 
Information pertaining to one or more specific employees that is used by the Village for staff management planning, including performance evaluations, judgments, or recommendations concerning future salary adjustments or other wage treatments, management bonus plans, promotions, job assignments, letters of reference or other comments or ratings relating to employees.
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 custodian, after conferring with the Village Attorney, may deny the request in whole or in part, only if he or 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) 
Records of current deliberations after a quasi-judicial hearing.
(3) 
Records of current deliberations concerning employment, dismissal, promotion, demotion, compensations, 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) 
Records concerning current strategy for crime detection or prevention.
(5) 
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) 
Financial, medical, social or personal histories or 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 data.
(7) 
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.
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 out 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 reasonably jeopardizing nondisclosure of the exempt material, the entire record shall be withheld from disclosure.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018; 8-19-2019 by Ord. No. 07-03-2019; 1-20-2020 by Ord. No. 01-03-2020]
A. 
The Village of Slinger has adopted the Wisconsin Municipal Records Schedule (WMRS) to provide clear and uniform guidance for the retention and destruction of records common to most municipal governments and increase cost-effectiveness in the management of municipal records.
B. 
A copy of the current WMRS and related schedules for human resources records, payroll records and risk management shall be maintained by the Village Clerk and kept in an easily accessible location for reference. An abbreviated summary of these schedules will also be maintained to streamline municipal records management and ensure that records are retained for the required length of time.
C. 
Any video surveillance recordings created and maintained by the Village of Slinger (not Police Department) will be retained for a period not to exceed 30 days. The oldest data will be purged first and permanently deleted.
(1) 
In some instances, video records may be kept longer than 30 days, where it may be required to retain a video for purposes of criminal investigations, safety, security or for evidentiary purposes.
[Adopted as Sec. 1.12 of the former Municipal Code]
The Village of Slinger's Assessor's Office creates and maintains property records for all real estate parcels within the Village of Slinger in which it has jurisdiction. Pursuant to § 70.32(1), Wis. Stats., all properties that are issued building permits are field reviewed, described, and valued by "actual view." This means that each building permit requires:
A. 
Assessment personnel to initially process existing records or create new records;
B. 
Physically review, on site, the purpose of each building permit to document all property description additions and/or alterations; and
C. 
Process the information gathered in the field to determine an assessed value.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 1.12B, Definitions, which immediately followed this section, was repealed 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018.
[Amended 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 11-01-2018]
Every person receiving an approved building permit from the Village in which said building permit requires an employee of the Assessor's office to physically view on site any descriptive property change in an effort to maintain the property record shall pay a property maintenance fee commensurate with the type of building permit issued by the Village. Fees are per the Village Fee Schedule.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Village Fee Schedule is on file in the Village office and on the Village website.