[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of East
Rockaway 10-15-1974 by resolution; amended in its entirety
during codification 8-10-1987 by L.L. No. 6-1987
(see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art II). Subsequent amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Administration of government — See Ch. 6.
The Village Clerk-Treasurer is designated to be the records access officer,
who shall have the duty of coordinating responses to public request for access
to records.
The records access officer is responsible for assuring that personnel:
A.
Assist the requestor in identifying requested records,
if necessary.
C.
Upon request for copies of records, make a copy available
upon payment of or offer to pay established fees, if any; or permit the requestor
to copy those records.
D.
Upon request, certify that a record is a true copy.
E.
Upon failure to locate records, certify that: the village
is not the custodian of such records; or the records of which the village
is a custodian cannot be found after diligent search.
F.
Make certain that no records are removed from the lawful
custody of any public officer charged with the duty of maintaining such records.
The records are located at the Village Office, and requests to produce
records shall be made during the normal business hours.
A.
In the event that the request for public records interferes
with the operation of the office of the Clerk-Treasurer and makes it difficult
for members of the public to receive the regular services of the Clerk-Treasurer,
the records access officer is authorized to establish hours during each day
when he shall process requests for records, including times when such requests
shall be made in order to enable him to find the records for review and copying.
The times so established by the records access officer shall be conspicuously
posted in the office of the Clerk-Treasurer.
B.
Such requests shall be in writing in detail, upon the
application form supplied by the records access officer.
C.
The request shall either be complied with or denied within
five business days of receipt.
The event that a question arises as to the nature of the records in
that public viewing of such records may result in an unwarranted invasion
of a citizen's personal privacy or may result in a disclosure of material
that must be confidential to promote effective law enforcement, or for any
other reason which, in the opinion of the records access officer, is valid
to promote the public interest while consistent with the New York State Law,
the records access officer shall confer with the Village Attorney before determining
such records shall be available for inspection.
If access is denied, an appeal may be taken within 30 days to the Board
of Trustees, which shall hear appeals regarding said denial within 30 days
of receipt of notice of appeal.
The denial shall be in writing and shall include advice to the applicant
of the right to appeal to the Board of Trustees.
A.
The Board of Trustees shall transmit to the Committee
on Public Access to Records copies of all appeals upon receipt of an appeal.
Such copies shall be addressed to: Committee on Public Access to Records,
162 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12231.
B.
The person or body designated to hear appeals shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Public Access to Records of its determination in writing within seven business days of the hearing of an appeal. The determination shall be transmitted to the Committee on Public Access to Records in the same manner as set forth in Subsection A of this section.
