[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
A. The
City Clerk is hereby designated as the "Custodian of Records" for
the City of Grain Valley. Such designation does not mean the City
Clerk will necessarily have all of the records in his or her possession,
but simply is an indication to whom requests for copies of records
and information regarding the City government shall be directed. Per
the Missouri Sunshine Law, Chapter 610, RSMo., the Custodian of Records
will respond to any records requests by either providing the requested
records, informing the requestor that the records sought are closed
with a citation of the provision for closure or explaining the cause
of the delay with an estimation of when the records will be provided.
The response will be sent within three (3) business days of the receipt
of the request; the three-day time period does not begin until the
Custodian of Records is in direct receipt of the request. For example,
if the Custodian of Records is out of the office a request will not
be considered received until he/she is back at work. Requests for
records made to persons other than the Custodian of Records shall
be directed to the Custodian of Records in a timely manner, so that
a response may be made to the request. If the person receiving the
request is out of the office but receives a records request (ex: via
email), then the person shall direct the request for records to the
Custodian of Records upon their return to the office.
B. The
Police Department of the City shall maintain records of all police-related
records, the Police Operations Manager shall be the custodian of police
records subject to oversight from the City Clerk. All incident reports
and arrest reports shall be open records; however certain information
may need to be redacted from reports occasionally pursuant to Ch.
610, RSMo. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, investigative
reports of the Police Department are closed records until the investigation
becomes inactive. If any person is arrested and not charged with an
offense against the law within thirty (30) days of the person's arrest,
the arrest report shall thereafter be a closed record except that
the disposition portion of the record may be accessed. Please refer
to the Comprehensive Fee Schedule for police-related records fees.
[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
Requesters are encouraged to submit requests for records in
writing. Oral requests, if received by the City Clerk, shall be immediately
recorded in written form to document the same. All requests for records,
whether submitted by a requester in writing or orally, shall ultimately
be documented, in writing, using the records request form prescribed
by the City of Grain Valley.
[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
The requesting party shall indicate on the request the manner
in which a response is desired. In the absence of instructions to
the contrary, it will be assumed the requesting party wants to receive
a response in the same form as the original request. Example: If someone
mails a records request, it will be assumed a mailed response is required.
[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
A. The
Custodian of Records shall respond to the request within three (3)
business days of its receipt by said custodian. A "business day" is
a day when City Hall is open for the conduct of City business during
its normal business hours. While it is desirable that an 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 additional searches are completed. If records contain open and
closed information, closed information should be redacted.
B. The
Custodian of Records ensures that, within three (3) business days
from receipt of the request, one (1) of the following occurs:
1. The requester receives copies of the record, as requested.
2. If the City of Grain Valley does not have legal custody of the record,
written notice of that fact along with the name of the entity that
has legal custody of the record, if known, is provided to the requestor.
3. If the record has been destroyed pursuant to the City's records retention
schedule, written notice of that fact is provided.
4. If the City is unable to fulfill the request within the three (3)
days, written notice of that fact and date that the record will be
available is provided.
5. If the request is denied, written notice with citation to the specific
Statute or other legal authority making the record confidential is
provided.
C. Upon
receipt of all responsive documents, the Custodian of Records determines
what is closed. Any questionable documents should be provided to the
City Attorney for review.
D. Copies
of the request and response to same shall be kept by the Custodian
of Records.
[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
A. Records
requests including "all documents" or "every document" of a particular
sort involves the City to review every record to certify "all" or
"every" document has been searched or require significant use of personnel
or resources to produce and would be designated as an extraordinary
public record request. Such searches are expensive. As a general rule,
the Custodian of Records is not expected to engage in extensive searches
or compilations. Any search request requiring more than fifteen (15)
minutes of staff time will be refused without an advance deposit for
the estimated time required to search for the records.
1. Such request may apply to more than one (1) staff member or department.
2. The requestor will be advised of the cost and payment in full is
required before City staff will process the request.
3. The amount deposited by the requestor shall include the estimated
staff time to retrieve or reproduce the record(s) and the actual copies.
4. The criteria listed are guidelines which may be expanded depending
on the circumstances of the request.
5. Fees may be imposed in accordance with Ch. 610, RSMo.
[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
A. Fees
for search, retrieval, and copying of City records shall be:
1. For a search of fifteen (15) minutes or less, there is no retrieval
fee.
2. For a search and retrieval of documents requiring more than fifteen
(15) minutes shall be charged in intervals of fifteen (15) minutes
of time, will include a copying fee of ten cents ($0.10) per sheet
of paper not to exceed 9x14 inches, plus the hourly wage fee for the
City staff member to duplicate the records that would result in the
lowest amount of charges. The City shall receive payment prior to
the duplication or search of documents.
3. For copies that must be made elsewhere or using other equipment than
available at City Hall, the actual charges imposed for making the
copies (including any taxes imposed) will also be charged.
[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
All records of the City which are permitted to be closed records
by reason of the Sunshine Law, or by any other Missouri Statute or
regulation shall be maintained as a closed record. No such closed
record shall be released to any person who is not part of the City
government except those that are reasonably necessary to prepare an
audit report requested by the City and the City's Attorney is able
to see such records as are reasonably necessary to represent the City.
Requests that closed records be open to public inspection will be
considered on a case-by-case basis by the City's Board of Aldermen.
[Ord. No. 2425, 6-12-2023]
The Custodian of Records shall establish a fixed place where
all public notices and agendas will be posted. This should be in a
place accessible to members of the public at all times. The notice
board is located in the City Hall vestibule on the digital notice
board and notices are also posted to the City's website. A permanent
sign shall be posted outside City Hall on the building designating
the location of public notices.