[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025[1]]
A. 
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City that public records which are made, maintained or kept by or are in the possession of the City, its officers and employees, shall be open for public inspection as provided by, and subject to the restrictions imposed by, the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA).
B. 
Any person, upon request, shall have access to such open public records for the purpose of inspecting, abstracting or copying such records while they are in the possession, custody and control of the appointed or designated records custodian thereof, or his or her designated representative.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Article IV, Open Records, containing Sections 105.050 through 105.160, was superseded by Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025. Prior history includes: CC 2000 §§ 1-802, 1-806 — 1-814; Ord. No. 1029; and Ord. No. 1477.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
The records custodian(s) appointed and designated pursuant to this Article shall preserve and protect all public records from damage, disorganization and theft and shall assist, in a timely and efficient manner, any person making request for access to any open public record.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
All City offices keeping and maintaining open public records shall establish office hours during which any person may make a request for access to an open public record. Such hours shall be no fewer than the hours each business day the office is regularly open to the public. For any City office not open Monday through Friday, hours shall be established by the records custodian for each such day at which time any person may request access to an open public record.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
All City offices keeping and maintaining open public records shall provide suitable facilities to be used by any person desiring to inspect and/or copy an open public record. The office of the City Clerk, being the principal recordkeeper of the City, shall be used as the principal office for providing access to and providing copies of open records to the maximum extent practicable. Requesters of records shall be referred to the office of the City Clerk except when the requested records are not in that office and are available in another City office.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
Any person requesting access to an open public record for purposes of inspecting or copying such record, or obtaining a copy thereof, shall abide by the procedures adopted by the governing body for record inspection and copying, including those procedures established by records custodians as authorized by the governing body. Such procedures shall be posted in each City office keeping and maintaining open public records.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
A. 
The following City officers are hereby appointed as official custodians for purposes of the Kansas Open Records Act and are hereby charged with responsibility for compliance with that Act with respect to the hereinafter listed public records:
1. 
City Clerk. All public records kept and maintained in the City Clerk's office and all other public records not provided for elsewhere in this Section.
2. 
Chief Of Police. All public records not on file in the office of the City Clerk and kept and maintained in the City Police Department.
3. 
Clerk Of The Municipal Court. All public records not on file in the office of the City Clerk and kept and maintained in the Municipal Court.
4. 
Public Works Director Or Designee. All public records not on file in the office of the City Clerk and kept and maintained in the Public Works' office.
5. 
City Attorney. All public records not on file in the office of the City Clerk and kept and maintained in the City Attorney's office.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
A. 
Each of the official custodians appointed in Section 105.100 is hereby authorized to designate any subordinate officers or employees to serve as records custodian. Such records custodians shall have such duties and powers as are set out in the Kansas Open Records Act.
B. 
Whenever an official custodian shall appoint another person as a records custodian, he/she shall notify the City Clerk of such designation and the City Clerk shall maintain a register of all such designations.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
All City officers and employees appointed or designated as records custodians under this Article shall: protect public records from damage and disorganization; prevent excessive disruption of the essential functions of the City; provide assistance and information upon request; ensure efficient and timely action and response to all applications for inspection of public records; and shall carry out the procedures adopted by this City for inspecting and copying open public records.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
A. 
All members of the public, in seeking access to, or copies of, a public record in accordance with the provisions of the Kansas Open Records Act, shall address their requests to the custodian charged with responsibility for the maintenance of the record sought to be inspected or copied.
B. 
Whenever any City officer or employee appointed or designated as a custodian under this Article is presented with a request for access to, or copy of, a public record which record the custodian does not have in his or her possession and for which he/she has not been given responsibility to keep and maintain, the custodian shall so advise the person requesting the record. Further, the person making the request shall be informed as to which custodian the request should be addressed to, if such is known by the custodian receiving the request.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
The City Clerk is hereby authorized to provide the Clerk's office, and the office of each records custodian, with sufficient cash to enable the making of change for record fee purposes. Each custodian shall transmit all record fee moneys collected to the City Treasurer not less than monthly. Each custodian shall maintain duplicates of all records and copy request forms, completed as to the amount of fee charged and collected, which amounts shall be periodically audited by the Clerk-Finance Officer and Treasurer of the City.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
A. 
Where a request has been made for inspection of any open public record which is readily available to the records custodian, there shall be no inspection fee charged to the requester.
B. 
In all cases not covered by Subsection (A) of this Section, a record inspection fee shall be charged in an amount equal to the actual cost of furnishing the requested records, including the cost of staff time required to make the information available. Actual cost shall include the cost to review and redact the requested records, but shall not include the incidental costs incurred by the City that are not attributable to furnishing the record. In the case of fees for providing access to records maintained at computer facilities, the fee shall include the cost of any computer services. If the City incurs costs for staff time to provide access to or furnish copies of public records, the City shall use, in good faith, the lowest cost category of staff reasonably necessary to provide access and furnish copies of corporate records. Charges for staff time shall be based on an employee's salary or hourly wage. Charges for staff time shall not include the costs of employee benefits.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025; Ord. No. 1641, 10-15-2025]
A. 
The requester shall be charged the actual cost to the City for any photocopying of public records, including the cost of staff time and materials.
B. 
For copying any public records that cannot be reproduced by the City's photocopying equipment, the requester shall be charged the actual cost to the City, including staff time, in reproducing such records.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
A. 
A record custodian may demand prepayment of the fees established by this Article whenever he/she believes this to be in the best interest of the City. The prepayment amount shall be an estimate of the inspection and/or copying charges accrued in fulfilling the record request. Any overage or underage in the prepayment shall be settled prior to inspection of the requested record or delivery of the requested copies.
B. 
Where prepayment has been demanded by the record custodian, no record shall be made available to the requester until such prepayment has been made.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
A. 
If the record custodian determines that the staff time needed to respond to a records request will exceed five (5) hours, or the estimated actual cost for the staff time needed to fill the request exceeds two hundred dollars ($200.00), the record custodian shall make reasonable efforts to contact the requester and engage in interactive communication about mitigating costs to fill the request. The requester is not obligated to mitigate costs.
B. 
If the record custodian has made reasonable efforts to contact the requester in accordance with Subsection (A) of this Section, and the requester has failed to respond by the end of the third (3rd) business day, the requester will be deemed to have withdrawn the requester's request until subsequent contact is made by the requester to the public agency.
C. 
As used in this Section, "reasonable efforts to contact the requester" means contacting the requester through the means of communication the requester provided to be used by the City to respond to the request.
[Ord. No. 1638, 8-20-2025]
All fees charged under this Article shall be paid to the custodian of the records inspected and/or copied unless the requester has established an account, for purposes of billing and payment, with the City.