[Adopted 12-16-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-07]
All records of the Town of Slaughterville, Oklahoma, and its boards, authorities, and commissions shall be open to inspection by citizens as provided by the applicable laws of Oklahoma. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to adhere to these mandates to provide the public prompt, reasonable access to the Town's public records, and to establish reasonable procedures to protect the integrity and organization of the Town's records, while preventing excessive disruptions of its essential functions.
The Town of Slaughterville, Oklahoma, and its boards, commissions, or authorities (collectively referred to as the "Town") and its officers, officials, and employees (collectively "Public Officials") will comply with the Oklahoma Open Records Act, Title 51, Oklahoma Statutes § 24A.1 et seq ("Open Records Act" or "Act") and other related federal and state laws. Subject to the Open Records Act's requirements, limitations, and/or exceptions, and those provided for in federal and other state laws, all records generated by or in the custody, control, or possession of Public Officials in connection with the transaction of public business, the expenditure of public funds, or the administration of public property, will be open for inspection, copying, and/or mechanical reproduction during regular business hours, provided that records subject to discretionary exemptions under the Act shall be managed according to the decision framework described in Appendix A.[1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: The appendices are on file in the Office of the Town Clerk.
A. 
The Town Administrator shall designate in writing the primary and secondary open record custodians for every department and every board, commission, or authority of the Town ("Public Body"), who are authorized to release its public records, and primary and secondary record retention custodians, who are charged with maintaining Town records (collectively "Record Custodians"). Record Custodian appointments shall be sufficient in number to ensure that at least one authorized person is always available to release public records during regular business hours. Every Public Body having parts of its public records at locations remote from its main administrative office shall post at each remote location a public notice identifying the location where its appointed Record Custodians are located for the purpose of releasing public records during regular business hours.
B. 
The Town Clerk (used throughout herein to mean any designee of the Office of the Town Clerk) shall maintain a continually updated list of Record Custodians and shall organize and facilitate a network of all active Record Custodians for the purpose of establishing a forum for instruction and collaboration regarding record retention and open records issues.
A. 
Intake. Excluding requests for documents or records specifically prepared for public distribution by any Public Body, all requests for Town public records must be submitted in writing on a form provided by the Town Clerk and submitted to the Record Custodian or Town Clerk.
B. 
Reasonable specificity.
1. 
All record requests must describe the records sought with reasonable specificity; that is, to a degree that the Record Custodian can be reasonably certain that the records produced for inspection, copying and/or mechanical reproduction are responsive to the request. Relevant considerations include whether the request:
a) 
Specifics at least a general time frame within which the requested records would have been created or transmitted:
b) 
Seeks identifiable records, rather than general information without any qualifiers or other specifications; and/or
c) 
Includes search terms that are sufficiently specific that they do not generate an unreasonably large number of records (e.g., thousands of pages of emails).
2. 
The Town Clerk or a Record Custodian may ask the requestor to clarify a request that is unreasonably vague, open-ended, or otherwise does not describe the requested record with reasonable specificity. If a request is not described with reasonable specificity after the Town Clerk or Record Custodian has asked the requester to clarify the request, the request may be denied.
3. 
If the request is for electronic mail, text messages, or similar electronic communications, and if the request does not identify a date range of six months or less and either the originator, the recipient, or the general subject matter of the message, the Town Clerk or Record Custodian will ask for clarification. Without more specific information, such open-ended searches, as well as the reviews and (if necessary) redactions they would necessitate, are presumed to cause excessive disruption to the Town's essential functions.
A. 
Record Custodians will provide prompt, reasonable access to their open records. The processing of a record request, in all cases, must ensure the integrity and security of Town records, and every request shall be processed in a manner which avoids excessive disruption of the essential functions of the office in which the records are maintained.
B. 
The date and time when a request is submitted and the date and time when the requested records are produced should be noted on the processed record request.
C. 
Records Custodians may provide regular, timely updates on the status of request responses.
D. 
Records Custodians will track all billable time for record search and processing.
E. 
The Town Clerk shall track the status of all pending requests and provide periodic reports on the status of requests, when appropriate, to the Record Custodians. Town Administrator, and Town Attorney.
The responsibility of a Record Custodian shall include only those records maintained by the Public Body responsible for the custodian's appointment. In no instance shall a Record Custodian be responsible for the production of records which are not subject to his/her authority. Record custodians receiving a misdirected record request seeking the production of records not under the custodian's control shall, if known by the custodian, inform the Town Clerk and the requesting party the identity and location of the Town department, office, board, authority or commission which is most likely to have the requested Town records.
Records of any Town department or Town Public Body placed in either permanent or temporary storage shall remain the responsibility of the Town department or Public Body placing the records in storage.
Any Town department or Public Body responsible for creating computer records or data files shall be responsible for administering the appropriate release of such records or files, notwithstanding the circumstance that they may be located within a centralized Town record system or centralized Town data storage file system.
This chapter adopts the schedule of Open Record Act fees appearing at Appendix B.[1] No charge shall be assessed or collected for any Town public record which was specifically prepared for public distribution. A copy of this fee schedule shall be posted online and made available in the Town Clerk's office.
[1]
Editor’s Note: The appendices are on file in the Office of the Town Clerk.
Record custodians shall be responsible for the collection of required fees and accountable for their deposit, as follows:
A. 
Record custodians collecting money at Town Hall shall deposit all collected money with the Town Clerk or her assignee on a daily basis.
B. 
Record custodians collecting money at any office not located within Town Hall shall deposit all collected money with the Town Clerk or her designee on the date of receipt of the same.
The Open Record Form on file in the Office of the Town Clerk and attached hereto as Appendix C is hereby adopted as the form to be used to request and process public records from the Town.
Any Record Custodian having a question concerning whether a requested document is a "public record" as defined by Oklahoma's Open Records Act or whether a record is otherwise exempt, or a question relating to the amount of the charge which should be collected pursuant to Appendix B to this order, is directed to contact the Town Attorney for guidance.
The Record Retention Manual 2024 adopted on June 18, 2024, by the adoption of Resolution No. 2024-0618, and as hereinafter amended, shall control in regard to the local policy concerning the retention of public records, including but not limited to the establishment of record retention periods, authorizing the destruction of records when such record retention periods have expired, providing for the scanning of public records, and providing for miscellaneous provisions. A copy of the Record Retention Manual 2024, and as hereinafter amended, is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set out, a copy of which shall be retained in the Offices of the Town Clerk and Town Administrator and shall be open for public review.