Town of Albion, NY Chapter 81 Records, Public Access to

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Albion 4-12-1978. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 81-1 Designation of records access officer.

A. The Town Clerk of the Town of Albion is hereby designated as the records access officer and is hereby assigned the duty of coordinating the responses to public requests for access to the records of the Town of Albion.

B. The access officer shall be responsible for the following:

(1) Maintain an up-to-date subject matter list.

(2) Assist the requester in identifying requested records, if necessary.

(3) Upon locating the records, take one of the following actions:

(a) Make records available for inspection; or

(b) Deny access to the records in whole or in part and explain in writing the reasons therefor.

(4) Upon request for copies of records:

(a) Make a copy available upon payment of or offer to pay established fees; or

(b) Permit the requester to copy those records.

(5) Upon request, certify that a record is a true copy.

(6) Upon failure to locate records, certify that:

(a) The agency is not the custodian for such records; or

(b) The records of which the agency is a custodian cannot be found after diligent search.

§ 81-2 Location of records.

The records of the Town of Albion shall be available for public inspection and copying at the Town of Albion Town Clerk's office, 3665 Clarendon Road, Albion, New York.

§ 81-3 Hours for public inspection.

The Town of Albion shall accept requests for public access to records and produce records during all hours the Town Clerk's office is regularly open for business.

§ 81-4 Requests for access to records.

A. All requests for public access to records made of the Town of Albion shall be in writing.

B. The Town of Albion shall respond to any request which reasonably describes the record or records sought within five business days of receipt of the request.

C. A request shall reasonably describe the record or records sought. Whenever possible a person requesting records should supply information regarding dates, file designations or other information that may help to describe the records sought.

D. If the Town of Albion does not provide or deny access to the record sought within five business days of receipt of a request, the agency shall furnish a written acknowledgment of receipt of the request and a statement of the approximate date when the request will be granted or denied. If access to records is neither granted nor denied within 10 days after date of acknowledgment of receipt of a request, the failure to act may be construed as a denial of access that may be appealed.

[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L. No. 1-1989]

§ 81-5 Subject matter list.

A. The Town of Albion shall maintain a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter of all records in its possession, whether or not records are available pursuant to Subdivision 2 of § 87 of the Public Officers Law.

B. The subject matter list shall be sufficiently detailed to permit identification of the category of the records sought.

C. The subject matter list shall be updated by the records access officer not less than twice per year. The most recent update shall appear on the first page of the subject matter list.

§ 81-6 Denial of access to records.

A. The Town Board of the Town of Albion shall hear appeals regarding denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law.

B. Denial of access shall be in writing stating the reason therefor and advising the person denied access of his or her right to appeal to the Town Board of the Town of Albion, 3665 Clarendon Road, Albion, New York; Telephone [phone].

C. If the Town of Albion fails to respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request as required in § 81-4D, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access by the Town of Albion.

D. Any person denied access to records may appeal within 30 days of a denial.

E. The time for deciding an appeal by the individual or body designated to hear appeals shall commence upon receipt of written appeal identifying:

(1) The date and location of a request for records;

(2) The records that were denied; and

(3) The name and return address of the appellant.

F. The Town of Albion shall transmit to the Committee on Open Government copies of all appeals upon receipt of an appeal. Such copies shall be addressed to:

Committee on Open Government Department of State 162 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12231

G. The person or body designated to hear appeals shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Open Government of its determination in writing within seven business days of receipt of an appeal. The determination shall be transmitted to the Committee on Open Government in the same manner as set forth in Subsection F of this section.

H. A final denial of access to a requested record, as provided for in Subsection G of this section, shall be subject to court review, as provided for in Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.

§ 81-7 Fees.

Except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by law:

A. There shall be no fee charged for the following:

(1) Inspection of records.

(2) Search for records.

(3) Any certification pursuant to this chapter.

B. The charge for copies of records is hereby established at:

(1) $0.25 per photocopy page not exceeding nine inches by 14 inches.

(2) In the event photocopying equipment is not available, a transcript of the requested records shall be made upon request. Such transcripts may be either typed or handwritten. In such cases, the person requesting records may be charged for the clerical time involved in making the transcript.

(3) The fee for copies of records not covered by Subsection B(1) and (2) shall not exceed the actual reproduction cost, which is the average unit cost for copying a record, excluding fixed costs of the agency such as operator salaries.

§ 81-8 Public notice of availability of records.

The Town of Albion shall publicize by posting in a conspicuous location within the Town of Albion the following:

A. The location where records shall be made available for inspection and copying.

B. The name, title, business address and business telephone number of the designated records access officer.

C. The right to appeal by any person denied access to a record and the name and business address of the person or body to whom an appeal is to be directed.

§ 81-9 Amendments.

These regulations may be amended from time to time by action of the Town Board of the Town of Albion; provided, however, that they shall not contradict or be in violation of the provisions of the regulations adopted by the New York State Committee on Open Government as provided in the Public Officers Law.