[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Blooming Grove
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 1-13-1975]
The following rules are adopted for use by the Town of Blooming Grove
to regulate public access to municipal records. The intent of these rules
is to develop an orderly process whereby the public may request access to
the records of the town and simultaneously assure that town personnel may
be reasonably expected to react to those requests on a timely basis and in
conformance with law.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The Town of Blooming Grove, to include the administrative offices,
Police Department, Highway Department, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals
and Public Library.
The Records Access Officer and his authorized representative.
A.
The Freedom of Information Law[1] requires that each municipality make and publish rules and regulations
pertaining to public access to records. These rules have been adopted with
the intent that they be the least restrictive possible in consonance with
the needs of the public, the news media, the municipality and the legislative
intent of providing public access to records.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Public Officers Law, Article 6.
B.
The purpose and scope is as follows:
(1)
The people's right to know the process of government
decision-making and the documents and statistics leading to determinations
is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted
by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.
(2)
This article provides information concerning the procedures
by which records may be obtained from agencies and municipalities. No agency
or municipality regulation shall be more restrictive than this article.
(3)
Agency and municipal personnel shall furnish to the public
the information and records required by the Freedom of Information Law and
those which were furnished to the public prior to its enactment.
(4)
Any conflicts among laws governing public access to records
shall be construed in favor of the widest possible availability of public
records.
For the purposes of these rules, the Town Supervisor is designated as
the Town Fiscal Officer who has custody of all records pertaining to employee
payrolls. When a bona fide member of the news media makes a request upon the
form prescribed, the Fiscal Officer, with the permission of the Records Access
Officer, will permit inspection of the municipality payroll records and will
provide a certified copy, if requested.
A.
The head of an agency or municipality shall be responsible
for ensuring compliance with the regulations herein, and shall designate one
or more persons as Records Access Officer, by name or by specific job title
and business address, who shall have the duty of coordinating the agency response
to public requests for access to records. However, the public shall not be
denied access to records through agency and municipal officials who have in
the past been authorized to make records or information available.
B.
The Town Clerk is hereby designated as the Records Access Officer for the Town of Blooming Grove and is the person from whom all records of the municipality must be obtained. In the absence of the Town Clerk, the Fiscal Officer as designated in § 46-4 above will serve as the Records Access Officer.
The office of the Town Clerk is hereby designated as the location within
the Town of Blooming Grove from which all records of the municipality will
be made available. All requests for access to records should be submitted
to the Records Access Officer in the town offices, P.O. Box 358, Horton Road
and Route No. 94, Blooming Grove, New York, 10914.
Records of the municipality will be made available for public inspection
and copying during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day the town offices
are regularly open for business.
A.
The municipality will make its records available for
public examination without charge when they are available in the current files
of the town offices.
B.
Copies of any record made available under the rules contained
herein will be made upon payment of $0.25 per page. Copies of maps or documents
which exceed the size of legal stationery will be made at the actual copying
cost per page.
In order to assume that the public is informed how to request access
to public records, the following information will be conspicuously posted
in the town offices of the municipality and will be published at least not
later than 30 days after the adoption of these rules in a newspaper with general
circulation in the municipality and at such other times as the Town Board
may from time to time order.
A.
The name, title, business address and business telephone
number of the designated Records Access Officer.
B.
Where and when public records will be made available
for inspection and copying.
C.
The right of appeal by an applicant denied access to
a record for whatever reason and the name and business address of the person
to whom an appeal is to be directed.
D.
The fees, to the extent authorized by these rules or
other statute, for copies of such information.
E.
The procedures to be followed.
The municipality retains the authority to specify how requests shall
be processed and has established separate procedures for different types of
records.
A.
[1]In the following cases the municipality requires that written requests,
using such form as is available from the Town Clerk, be submitted for access
to records:
B.
The municipality, on request for identifiable records made in accordance with these rules, shall make the records promptly available to any persons and, upon payment of fees set forth in § 46-8, either make one or more transcripts therefrom, and certify to the correctness thereof, and to the search for such records or certify that a record cannot be found. The Records Access Officer, upon receipt of a request, oral or written, for access to records shall promptly:
(1)
Assist the applicant in identifying the records he is
seeking.
(2)
Search for identifiable record.
(3)
Upon locating the record, take one of the following actions:
(a)
Review such records and delete any information which
would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and thereafter
make the record promptly available for inspection, or schedule an appointment
for inspection and make records promptly available for inspection; or
(b)
Deny access to the record in whole or in part and explain,
in writing, the reasons therefor.
(5)
Upon request, certify to the correctness of the records
copied.
C.
An agency or municipal official shall respond promptly
to a request for records. Except under extraordinary circumstances, his response
shall be made no more than five working days after receipt of the request
by the agency or municipality, whether the request is oral or in writing.
D.
If for any reason more than five days is required to
produce records, an agency or municipal official shall acknowledge receipt
of the request within five working days after the request is received. The
acknowledgment should include a brief explanation of the reason for delay
and an estimate of the date, production or denial will be forthcoming.
E.
So that agency and municipal personnel can locate records
within a reasonable period of time, a request for access to records should
be sufficiently detailed to identify the records. Where possible, the requester
should supply information regarding dates, titles, file designations or other
information which may help identify the records.
F.
A request for any or all records falling within a specific
category shall conform to the standard that records be identifiable.
G.
No records may be removed by the requester from the office
where the record is located without the permission of agency or municipal
personnel.
The following records of the municipality will be made available for
public inspection:
A.
Final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions,
as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases;
B.
Those statements of policy and interpretations which
have been adopted by the municipality and any documents, memoranda, data or
other materials constituting statistical or factual tabulations which led
to the formulation thereof;
C.
Minutes of meetings of the governing body, if any, of
the municipality and of public hearings held by the municipality;
D.
Internal or external audits and statistical or factual
tabulations made by or for the municipality;
E.
Administrative staff manuals and instruction to staff
that affect members of the public;
F.
Police blotters and booking records;
G.
An itemized record setting forth names, addresses, titles
and salaries of every officer or employee, which shall be compiled by each
Fiscal Officer charged with the duty of preparing payrolls for such officers,
and such records shall be made available for inspection by the officer charged
with the duty of certifying such payrolls to bona fide members of the news
media upon written notice. Said written notice shall be made upon a form to
be prescribed and shall be reasonable and specify what records are to be requested
with particularity. The records may be inspected under the supervision of
the particular Fiscal Officers' office and only in the particular Fiscal
Officers' office during regular working hours and regular working days
or at such other place as may be convenient to the particular Fiscal Officers;
H.
Final determinations and dissenting opinions of members
of the governing body, if any, of the municipality, including the vote of
each member in every instance he votes;
I.
Any other files, records, papers or documents required
by any other provision of law to be made available for public inspection and
copying.
The following records of the municipality will not be made available
for public inspection:
A.
Those records which are specifically exempted by statute.
B.
Those records which are confidentially disclosed for
the regulation of commercial enterprise, including trade secrets, or for obtaining
a license to do business and, if openly disclosed, would permit an unfair
advantage to competitors (but no exemption if disclosure is directed by another
statute).
C.
Records compiled for law enforcement purposes in relation
to criminal or regulatory investigations or proceedings.
D.
Intermunicipal or intramunicipal documents or memorandum
used solely as advisory matter for policymaking or employee-employer negotiations.
E.
Personal references listed by applicants on employment
applications.
F.
Records which would be an unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy. An unwarranted invasion of personal privacy includes, but shall not
be limited to:
(1)
Disclosure of such personal matters as may have been
reported in confidence to an agency or municipality and which are not relevant
or essential to the ordinary work of the agency or municipality.
(2)
Disclosure of employment, medical or credit histories
or personal references of applicants for employment, except such records may
be disclosed when the applicant has provided a written release permitting
such disclosure.
(3)
Disclosure of items involving the medical or personal
records of a client or patient in a hospital or medical facility.
(4)
The sale or release of lists of names and addresses in
the possession of any agency or municipality if such lists would be used for
private, commercial or fund-raising purposes.
(5)
Disclosure of items of a personal nature when disclosure
would result in economic or personal hardship to the subject party and such
records are not relevant or essential to the ordinary work of the agency or
municipality.
G.
Scores of employees on Civil Service examinations.
A.
Any individual who is denied access to a public record
of the municipality may appeal such denial to the Town Supervisor. When a
request is first denied, the applicant will be given written notice of such
denial with an explanation of the right to appeal and will be given a time
and date when a personal, as well as written, appeal may be made to the Town
Supervisor, who will explain the reason for denial, in writing, within seven
business days.
B.
Final authority for denial of any request for access
rests with the Town Board, Town of Blooming Grove, which will automatically
review all denials issued by the Town Supervisor. Such automatic review will
take place at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.
A.
In order to aid the public in identifying records and
to assist municipal personnel in finding requested records with reasonable
effort, a detailed listing of municipal records, by subject matter, is attached
hereto as Annex B[1] (a duplicate list is retained for public use by the Records Access
Officer). Said list is to be kept current and shall include all records which
shall be produced, filed or first kept or promulgated after the effective
date of the Freedom of Information Law, which was September 1, 1974, and the
list may include identifying information as to any records in the town's
possession before September 1, 1974.
[1]
Editor's Note: Annex B is on file in the Town Clerk's office.
B.
The subject matter list shall be updated periodically,
and the date of the most recent updating shall appear on the first page. The
updating of the subject matter list shall not be less than semiannual.
[Adopted 2-13-1989]
A.
Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1, issued
pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law and containing
legal minimum retention periods for municipal government records, is hereby
adopted for use by all municipal officers in disposing of municipal government
records listed therein.
B.
In accordance with Article 57-A:
(1)
Only those records will be disposed of that are described
in Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 after they have met the
minimum retention period prescribed therein.
(2)
Only those records will be disposed of that do not have
sufficient administrative fiscal, legal or historical value to merit retention
beyond established time periods.
