[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Albion as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-28-2014 by L.L. No. 2-2014]
A. 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 of confidentiality.
B. This article provides information concerning the procedures by which
records may be obtained.
C. Personnel shall furnish to the public the information and records
required by the Freedom of Information Law, as well as records otherwise
available by law.
D. Any conflicts among laws governing public access to records shall
be construed in favor of the availability of public records.
A. The
Village of Albion Clerk is responsible for insuring compliance with
the regulations herein, and designates the following person(s) as
Records Access Officer(s):
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Village of Albion Clerk
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35-37 East Bank Street
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Albion, NY 14411
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B. The
Records Access Officer is responsible for insuring appropriate agency
response to public requests for access to records. The designation
of a Record Access Officer shall not be construed to prohibit officials
who have in the past been authorized to make records or information
available to the public from continuing to do so.
C. The
Records Access Officer shall insure that agency personnel:
(1) Maintain an up-to-date subject matter list.
(2) Assist persons seeking records to identify the records sought, if
necessary, and when appropriate, indicate the manner in which the
records are filed, retrieved and generated to assist persons in reasonably
describing records.
(3) Contact persons seeking records when a request is voluminous or when
locating the records involves substantial effort, so that personnel
may ascertain the nature of records of primary interest and attempt
to reasonably reduce the volume of records requested.
(4) 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.
(5) Upon request for copies of records, make a copy available upon payment of or an offer to pay established fees, if any, in accordance with §
72-8.
(6) Upon request, certify that a record is a true copy.
(7) Upon failure to locate records, certify that:
(a)
The Village of Albion is not the custodian for such records;
or
(b)
The records of which the Village of Albion is a custodian cannot
be found after diligent search.
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying
at:
Village of Albion Office
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35-37 East Bank Street
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Albion, NY 14411
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A. Requests
for public access to records shall be accepted and records produced
during all hours regularly open for business.
B. These
hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Monday through Friday, with the
exception of holidays. Any request to inspect or copy documents should
be made at least 24 hours in advance.
A. A written request may be required, but oral requests may be accepted
when records are readily available.
B. If records are maintained on the Internet, the requester shall be
informed that the records are accessible via the Internet and in printed
form, either on paper or other information storage medium.
C. A response shall be given within five business days of receipt of
request by:
(1) Informing a person requesting records that the request, or portion
of the request, does not reasonably describe the records sought, including
direction, to the extent possible, that would enable that person to
request records reasonably described;
(2) Granting or denying access to records, in whole or in part;
(3) Acknowledging the receipt of a request, in writing, including an
approximate date when the request will be granted or denied, in whole
or in part, which shall be reasonable under the circumstances of the
request and shall not be more than 20 business days after the date
of acknowledgement, or if it is known that circumstances prevent disclosure
within 20 business days from the date of such acknowledgement, providing
a statement, in writing, indicating the reason for inability to grant
the request within that time and date certain, within a reasonable
period under the circumstances of the request, when the request will
be granted, in whole or in part; or
(4) If the receipt of request was acknowledged, in writing, and included
an approximate date when the request would be granted, in whole or
in part, within 20 business days of such acknowledgement, but circumstances
prevent disclosure within that time, providing a statement, in writing,
within 20 business days of such acknowledgement specifying the reason
for the inability to do so and a date certain, within a reasonable
period under circumstances of the request, when the request will be
granted, in whole or in part.
D. In determining a reasonable time for granting or denying a request
under the circumstances of a request, personnel shall consider the
volume of a request, the ease or difficulty in locating, retrieving
or generating records, the complexity of the request, the need to
review records to determine the extent to which they must be disclosed,
the number of requests received by the agency, and similar factors
that bear on the ability to grant access to records promptly and within
a reasonable time.
E. A failure to comply with the time limitations described herein shall
constitute a denial of a request that may be appealed. Such failure
shall include situations in which an officer or employee:
(1) Fails to grant access to the records sought, deny access, in writing,
or acknowledge the receipt of a request within five business days
of the receipt of the request;
(2) Acknowledges the receipt of a request within five business days but
fails to furnish an approximate date when the request will be granted
or denied, in whole or in part;
(3) Furnishes an acknowledgement of the receipt of a request within five
business days with an approximate date for granting or denying access,
in whole or in part, that is unreasonable under the circumstances
of the request;
(4) Fails to respond to a request within a reasonable time after the
appropriate date given or within 20 business days after the date of
acknowledgement of the receipt of a request;
(5) Determines to grant a request, in whole or in part, within 20 business
days of the acknowledgement of the receipt of a request, but fails
to do so, unless the agency provides the reason for its inability
to do so, in writing, and a date certain within which the request
will be granted, in whole or in part;
(6) Does not grant a request, in whole or in part, within 20 business
days of the acknowledgement of the receipt of a request and fails
to provide the reason, in writing, explaining the inability to do
so and a date certain by which the request will be granted, in whole
or in part; or,
(7) Responds to a request, stating that more than 20 business days are
needed to grant or deny the request, in whole or in part, and provides
a date certain within which that will be accomplished, but such date
is unreasonable under the circumstances of the request.
A. The
records access officer shall maintain a current list by subject matter
of all records in his or her possession, whether or not the records
are available pursuant to Subdivision, 2 of Section 87 of the Public
Officers Law.
B. The
subject matter list shall be sufficiently detailed to permit identification
of the category of the record sought.
C. The
subject matter list shall be updated annually. The most recent update
shall appear on the first page of the subject matter list.
A. Denial
of access to records shall be in writing stating the reason therefor
and advising the requester of the right to appeal to the individual
or body established to determine appeals (which or who) shall be identified
by name, title, business address and business phone number.
B. If requested records are not provided promptly, as required in §
72-5 of this article, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access.
C. The
following person or persons or body shall determine appeals regarding
denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law:
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Mayor of the Village of Albion
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35 East Bank Street
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Albion, NY 14411
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(585) 589-9176
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D. Any
person denied access to records may appeal within 30 days of denial.
E. The time for deciding an appeal by the individual or body designated
to determine appeals shall commence upon receipt of a written appeal
identifying:
(1) The date and location of the requests for records;
(2) A description, to the extent possible, of the records that were denied;
and
(3) The name and return address of the person denied access.
F. A failure to determine an appeal within 10 business days of its receipt
by granting access to the records sought or fully explaining the reasons
for further denial, in writing, shall constitute a denial of the appeal.
G. The person or body designated to determine appeals shall transmit
to the Committee on Open Government copies of all appeals upon receipt
of appeals. Such copies shall be addressed to:
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Committee on Open Government
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Department of State
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One Commerce Drive
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99 Washington Avenue, Suite 650
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Albany, NY 12231
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H. The person or body designated to determine appeals shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Open Government of its determination, in writing, within 10 business days of receipt of an appeal. The determination shall be transmitted to the Committee on Open Government in the same manner set forth in Subsection
F of this section.
A. There shall be no fee charged for:
(3) Any certification pursuant to this article.
B. Fees for copies may be charged, provided that:
(1) The fee for copying records shall not exceed $0.25 per page for photocopies
not exceeding nine inches by 14 inches. This section shall not be
construed to mandate the raising of fees where agencies or municipalities
in the past have charged less than $0.25 for such copies;
(2) The fee for photocopies of records in excess of nine inches by 14
inches shall not exceed the actual cost of the reproduction; or
(3) An agency has the authority to redact portions of a paper record
and does so prior to disclosure of the record by making a photocopy
from which the proper redactions are made.
C. The fee an agency may charge for a copy of any other record is based
on the actual cost of the reproduction and may include only the following:
(1) An amount equal to the hourly salary attributing to the lowest paid
employee who has the necessary skill required to prepare a copy of
the requested record, but only when more than two hours of the employee's
time is necessary to do so; and
(2) The actual cost of the storage device or media provided to the person
making the request in complying with such request; or
(3) The actual cost to the agency of engaging an outside professional
service to prepare a copy of a record, but only when an agency's
information technology equipment is inadequate to prepare a copy,
and if such service is used to prepare a copy.
D. When an agency has the ability to retrieve or extract a record or data maintained in a computer storage system with reasonable effort, or when doing so requires less employee time than engaging in manual retrieval or redactions from nonelectric records, the agency shall be required to retrieve or extract such record or data electronically. In such case, the agency may charge a fee in accordance with Subsections
C(1) and
(2) above.
E. An agency shall inform a person requesting a record of the estimated
cost of preparing a copy of the record if more than two hours of an
agency employee's time is needed, or if it is necessary to retain
an outside professional service to prepare a copy of the record.
F. An agency requires that the fee for copying or reproducing a record
be paid in advance of the preparation of such copy.