[Adopted 11-5-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-10]
[Amended 12-5-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-6]
For the purposes of responding to requests for public records, the Town Clerk shall be the Town’s Public Information Officer. Anyone requesting to inspect or obtain copies of records maintained by the Town of Mount Airy is required to make the request upon the Town Clerk for records on a form to be updated from time to time and made available by the Town Clerk at Town Hall. The form shall require that the person making the request identify him or herself or organization, the address to where the documents to be produced in response may be mailed, delivered or otherwise made available or, if the request is made for production by means of an electronic medium, the format and means of production and/or any electronic mailing address to which the documents are to be sent, and shall provide notice of the types and manner of calculating fees as set forth in § 1-23 below for which the person making the request shall be responsible to pay as a condition precedent to receipt of the documents requested. No Town official or employee shall make any inquiry as to the reason or purpose for such a request. A request should be honored when made whenever practicable. In order not to disrupt Town business unduly, such requests may be held for a period not to exceed 30 days during which time the Town Clerk shall either provide the record involved or deny the request under the provisions of § 10-614 of the State Government Article of the Maryland Code. In the event that a request cannot be honored when made, the Town Clerk is to proceed as promptly as reasonable to confer with the applicant as to a convenient time to inspect or receive a copy of such records.
Requests to inspect or obtain minutes of Council meetings or of any board or commission which have been approved and accepted may be made orally and shall be honored when made whenever practicable unless the pertinent minute book is temporarily unavailable. Persons requesting to inspect minutes may be required to sign an acknowledgment as to the fact of inspecting.
Requests to inspect or obtain copies of ordinances may be made orally and shall be honored when made whenever practicable.
Meetings of the Town Council and various boards and commissions are tape recorded. Persons desiring to listen to a tape must do so at the Town Hall on Town equipment after scheduling a mutually convenient time for such a purpose.
[Amended 12-5-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-6]
Generally. No charge will be made for the first two hours required to search for and prepare a copy of a record for inspection. Fees for photocopying or scanning for production by electronic medium are $0.25 per page which shall be paid by the applicant as a condition precedent to production of the documents requested. The applicant shall be responsible for reimbursing the Town at cost for any CD-ROM, flash drive, jump drive or any other mass storage device if production of documents is requested by electronic means. For time spent by Town staff, to include the Town Clerk, in excess of two hours, the applicant shall pay a sum for such excess time based upon the hourly wage rate of the lowest salaried office employee and shall in addition reimburse the Town the actual amounts charged to the Town, if any, by the Town Attorney in responding to the document request, to include the time taken to redact from documents to be produced information exempt from production pursuant to the State Government Article of the Maryland Code, § 10-611 et seq. If the Town Clerk believes that more than two hours will be required to search for and prepare the requested record, then the Town Clerk shall promptly advise the applicant of that fact with an estimate of anticipated costs which shall require signature by the applicant agreeing to payment to the Town of the estimated charges or the actual charges associated with responding to the request, whichever shall be less, as a condition precedent to receipt of the documents requested. The applicant may withdraw the request without charge before signing the estimate. Upon execution of the estimate by the applicant, the Town Clerk shall commence obtaining and/or copying the documents to be produced. Charges are to be paid in full as a condition precedent to receipt of the documents requested. An applicant who withdraws his or her request after signing the estimate required by this section shall be responsible for payment of the fees authorized to be charged as set forth herein actually incurred by the Town as of the Town’s receipt of the withdrawal or as reflected in the estimate signed by the applicant, whichever shall be less, even if the request is withdrawn by the applicant after signing the estimate. An applicant making request for production shall be responsible for payment of the charges authorized by this section associated with responding to a prior request by the applicant or some other applicant seeking production of the same documents if the Town has not been compensated for the charges associated with such previous request. An applicant may request a waiver of fees as provided for in state law. If plats or other records larger than the Town’s copying equipment are requested, the applicant may inspect the same, but will have to make satisfactory arrangements for commercial reproduction for paper copies.
A. 
A temporary denial may be issued if the custodian of the record believes that inspection would cause substantial injury to the public interest. In that event, the Town will file a petition in court within 10 days in order to resolve the matter.
B. 
By state law, certain records may not be disclosed and access to other records may be denied. In the event a Town employee has any question as to the propriety of any requested disclosure, the matter should be promptly reported to the Mayor for a decision or, in the event of his absence, to the office of the Town Attorney. Every effort will be made to decide the question presented by the close of the next succeeding business day.