[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Babylon 10-1-1974 by Res. No. 15. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 5-7-1985 by L.L. No. 1-1985]
The records and other documents available to public inspection pursuant to Chapter 578 of the Laws of 1974, § 88 of the Public Officers Law, as amended, shall be available for inspection and copying to members of the public between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., daily, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
The head of each department of Town government shall be the custodian of records generated by or in the physical possession of such department.
[Amended 12-8-2010 by L.L. No. 38-2010]
The procedures established by the Town Clerk for actual inspection and copying of documents and currently in force in the Town shall be continued by each custodian, except as inconsistent herewith.
Until the State Committee on Public Access to Records shall otherwise provide, the following material shall be deleted from all documents made available to the public hereunder:
A. 
Confidential matter which is also irrelevant to the department's work.
B. 
Employment, credit and medical histories of employees, unless released by such employee.
C. 
Medical and personal records of clients or of cases of the Department of Social Services or of the Department of Law.
D. 
Names and addresses of any variety, when sought to be used for commercial purposes, e.g., mailing lists.
E. 
Any records, the disclosure of which would work hardship to the individuals involved therein, which are irrelevant to the department's work, and which are nonessential records of the Town.
The Town Clerk shall maintain and update monthly an index of the materials to be made available under these regulations. Such index shall be conspicuously posted and available to the public.
Upon request for a document, the custodian shall make a diligent search for the document. If located, it shall be made available to the requester pursuant to these regulations. If, after diligent search therefor, the custodian is unable to locate the record, he shall certify in writing to that effect. All documents copied are entitled to be certified as to accuracy, and the custodian thereof shall do so, if requested. The custodian shall deny access to any record not required to be disclosed by these regulations and applicable law.
The following documents are exempt from the provisions of these regulations, pursuant to law:
A. 
Documents exempted by statutes other than § 88 of the Public Officers Law.
B. 
Material disclosed to the Town in confidence, for the purposes of securing a commercial license, etc., disclosure of which, through a public medium, would allow economic advantage to persons not entitled thereto.
C. 
Material which would contravene the privacy criteria established in these regulations, § 176-5E.
D. 
Material which is a part of law enforcement investigative records.
Any individual denied access to a document pursuant to the provisions of these regulations may appeal such denial to the Town Attorney. Upon hearing such appeals, the Town Attorney shall determine the propriety of the denial. If he shall determine that such denial was improper, he shall order the custodian to make the requested document available. If he shall determine that such denial was proper, he shall render a written statement to that effect with his grounds therefor to the requester within seven days of appeal hearing. Conspicuously printed on such written determination shall be appropriate language informing the appellant of his right to further appeal of the denial, pursuant to certiorari, under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.