[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of El Reno 9-1-1972 as Ch. 2, Art. V, of the 1972 Code; amended in its entirety 11-4-1985 by Ord. No. 2515. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Records management — See Ch. 98.
This chapter shall be known as the "El Reno Public Records Act."
It is the purpose of this chapter to establish reasonable fees and charges for the provision of access to or copies of open public records in the possession of the City of El Reno, to avoid the necessity of using general public funds, the City of El Reno to subsidize special services and benefits to a record requester.
As used herein, the terms "record," "public body," "public office," "public official" and "law enforcement agency" shall carry the same meaning as those terms or words are defined in the state statutes of the State of Oklahoma.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 51 O.S. § 24A.3.
All records of the City of El Reno shall be open to any person for inspection, copying and/or mechanical reproduction during regular business hours; provided that this chapter does not apply to records specifically required by law to be kept confidential, including:
A. 
Records not discoverable under state law;
B. 
Records protected by a state evidentiary privilege such as the identity of informer privileges;
C. 
Records of what transpired during meetings of the City Council of the City of El Reno during executive sessions authorized under the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act[1]; or
[1]
Editor's Note: See 25 O.S. § 301 et seq.
D. 
Personal information within driver records as defined by the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2721 through 2725.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
A. 
A reasonable fee for the recovery of the cost of record copying and/or mechanical reproduction shall be charged. In those instances where the request is made solely for commercial purposes or clearly would cause excessive disruption of essential functions of any department, then, and in that event, a fee shall also be assessed to recover the direct cost of record search. A schedule of said fees to be charged for the record copying and record search shall be prepared by the City Manager and proposed to the City Council for passage of said schedule by resolution. After the passage of said resolution, setting out the fees schedule, it shall be posted with the City Clerk of the City of El Reno and with the County Clerk of Canadian County.
B. 
Provided, however, that in no case shall a search fee be charged when the release of said records is made to the news media, scholars, authors and taxpayers seeking to determine whether those entrusted with the affairs of the City of El Reno are honestly, faithfully and competently performing their duties.
C. 
Any person, firm or entity who or which attempts to avoid the fees established by this chapter for copying, reproduction or search by falsely claiming to be exempt as set out above shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
A. 
The following City officers are hereby designated as official custodians for the records of the City of El Reno: City Clerk, City Treasurer, Chief of Police, Fire Chief, City Attorney, Director of Public Works, Municipal Court Clerk and City Librarian, Planning/Zoning Administrator, and Community Development Project Officer.
B. 
Each of the official custodians appointed herein is hereby authorized to designate any subordinate officers or employees to serve as record custodians of his/her office or department.
C. 
All members of the public, in seeking access to, or copies of, a public record in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, shall address their request to the custodian charged with the responsibility for the maintenance of the records sought to be inspected or copied.
D. 
Whenever any City officer or employee appointed or designated as a custodian under this section is presented with a request for access to, or a copy of, a public record, which record the custodian does not have in his or her possession and for which he or she has not been given the responsibility to keep and maintain, the custodian shall so advise the person requesting the record.
The following personnel records of City employees are considered confidential and are not subject to public inspection:
A. 
Those personnel records which relate to internal personnel investigations, including examination and selection material for employment, hiring, appointment, promotion, demotion, discipline or resignation; or
B. 
Such personnel records which, if disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, such as employee evaluations, payroll deductions or employment applications submitted by persons not hired by the City of El Reno.
Any additional requirements and provisions of the Oklahoma Open Records Act, 51 O.S. § 24A.1 et seq., not covered in this chapter shall be applicable to the City of El Reno and complied with as set forth in said statute.
Violations of this chapter shall be punishable as follows:
A. 
Public officials shall be punishable as provided in 51 O.S. § 24A.17; and
B. 
All other violators shall be punishable as provided in § 1-10 of this Code.