[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.
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.
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.
