[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Hudson as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted by Ord. No. 1-83]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any of the following city entities having custody of a city
record: an office, elected official, agency, board, commission, committee,
council, department or public body corporate and politic created by
constitution, law, ordinance, rule or order or a formally constituted
subunit of the foregoing.
That officer, department head, division head or employee of the city designated under § 73-3 or otherwise responsible by law to keep and preserve any city records or file, deposit or keep such records in his or her office or who is lawfully in possession or entitled to possession of such public records and who is required by this article to respond to requests for access to such records.
Any material on which written, drawn, printed, spoken, visual
or electromagnetic information is recorded or preserved, regardless
of physical form or characteristics, which has been created or is
being kept by an authority. "Record" includes but is not limited to
handwritten, typed or printed pages, maps, charts, photographs, films,
recordings, tapes (including computer tapes), computer printouts and
optical disks. "Record" does not include drafts, notes, preliminary
computations and like materials prepared for the originator's personal
use or prepared by the originator in the name of a person for whom
the originator is working; materials which are purely the personal
property of the custodian and have no relation to his or her office;
materials to which access is limited by copyright, patent or request;
and published materials in the possession of an authority, other than
a public library, which are available for sale or which are available
for inspection at a public library.[1]
A.
Each officer and employee of the city shall safely
keep and preserve all records received from his or her predecessor
or other persons and required by law to be filed, deposited or kept
in his or her office or the lawful possession or control of which
he or she or they may be lawfully entitled to as such officers or
employees.[1]
B.
Upon the expiration of an officer's term of office
or an employee's term of employment, or whenever the office or position
of employment becomes vacant, each such officer or employee shall
deliver to his or her successor all records then in his or her custody,
and the successor shall receipt therefor to the officer or employee,
who shall file such receipt with the City Clerk. If a vacancy occurs
before a successor is selected or qualifies, such records shall be
delivered to and receipted for by the Clerk, on behalf of the successor,
to be delivered to such successor upon the latter's receipt.
A.
Each elected official is the legal custodian of his
or her records and the records of his or her office.
B.
Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the City Clerk
or the Clerk's designee shall act as legal custodian for the Common
Council and for any committees, commissions, boards or other authorities
created by ordinance or resolution of the Common Council.
D.
Each legal custodian shall name a person to act as
legal custodian in his or her absence.
E.
The legal custodian shall have full legal power to render decisions and to carry out the duties of an authority under Subchapter 2 of Chapter 19 of the Wisconsin statutes and this article. The designation of a legal custodian does not affect the powers and duties of an authority under this article.
A.
Except as provided in § 73-6, any person has a right to inspect a record and to make or receive a copy of any record as provided in W.S.A. s. 19.35.
B.
Records will be available for inspection and copying
during all regular office hours.
C.
If regular office hours are not maintained at the
location where records are kept, the records will be available for
inspection and copying upon at least 48 hours' advance notice of intent
to inspect or copy.
D.
A requester shall be permitted to use facilities comparable
to those available to city employees to inspect, copy or abstract
a record.
E.
The legal custodian may require supervision during
inspection or may impose other reasonable restrictions on the manner
of access to an original record if the record is irreplaceable or
easily damaged.
F.
A requester shall be charged a fee to defray the cost
of locating and copying records as follows:
(1)
The cost of photocopying shall be according to a fee
schedule approved by the Common Council. Such cost shall be calculated
not to exceed the actual, necessary and direct cost of reproduction.
[Amended by Ord. No. 2-91]
(2)
If the form of a written record does not permit copying,
the actual and necessary cost of photographing and photographic processing
shall be charged.
(3)
The actual full cost of providing a copy of other
records not in printed form on paper, such as films, computer printouts
and audio tapes or video tapes, shall be charged.
(4)
If mailing or shipping is necessary, the actual cost
thereof shall also be charged.
(5)
There shall be no charge for locating a record unless
the actual cost therefor exceeds $50, in which case the actual cost
shall be determined by the legal custodian and billed to the requester.
(6)
The legal custodian shall estimate the cost of all
applicable fees and may require a cash deposit adequate to assure
payment if such estimate exceeds $5.
(7)
Elected and appointed officials of the city shall
not be required to pay for public records they may reasonably require
for the proper performance of their official duties.
(8)
The legal custodian may provide copies of a record
without charge or at a reduced charge where he or she determines that
waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest.
G.
Pursuant to W.S.A. s. 19.34 and the guidelines therein listed, each authority shall adopt, prominently display and make available for inspection and copying at its offices, for the guidance of the public, a notice containing a description of its organization and the established times and places at which, the legal custodian from whom and the methods whereby the public may obtain information and access to records in its custody, make requests for records or obtain copies of records and the costs thereof. Each authority shall also prominently display at its offices, for the guidance of the public, a copy of W.S.A. ss. 19.31 to 19.39 (§§ 73-4 through 73-6 of this article). This subsection does not apply to members of the Common Council.
A.
A request to inspect or copy a record shall be made to the legal custodian. A request shall be deemed sufficient if it reasonably describes the requested record or the information requested. However, a request for a record without a reasonable limitation as to subject matter or length of time represented by the record does not constitute a sufficient request. A request may be made orally, but a request must be in writing before an action to enforce the request is commenced under W.S.A. s. 19.37. Except as provided below, no request may be refused because the person making the request is unwilling to be identified or to state the purpose of the request. No request may be refused because the request is received by mail, unless prepayment of a fee is required under § 73-4F(6). A requester may be required to show acceptable identification whenever the requested record is kept at a private residence or whenever security reasons or federal law or regulation so require.
B.
Each custodian, upon request for any record, shall,
as soon as practicable and without delay, either fill the request
or notify the requester of the authority's determination to deny the
request in whole or part and the reasons therefor. If the legal custodian,
after conferring with the City Attorney, determines that a written
request is so general as to be unduly time consuming, the party making
the request may first be required to itemize his or her request in
a manner which would permit reasonable compliance.
C.
A request for a record may be denied as provided in § 73-6. If a request is made orally, the request may be denied orally unless a demand for a written statement of the reasons for denying the request is made by the requester within five business days of the oral denial. If a written request is denied in whole or in part, the requester shall receive a written statement of the reasons for denying the request. Every written denial of a request shall inform the requester that if the request for the record was made in writing, then the determination is subject to review upon petition for a writ of mandamus under W.S.A. s. 19.37(1) or upon application to the Attorney General or a district attorney.
A.
As provided by W.S.A. s. 19.36, the following records
are exempt from inspection under this article:
(1)
Records specifically exempted from disclosure by state
or federal law or authorized to be exempted from disclosure by state
law.
(2)
Any record relating to investigative information obtained
for law enforcement purposes if federal law or regulations require
exemption from disclosure or if exemption from disclosure is a condition
to receipt of aids by the state.
(3)
Computer programs, although the material used as input
for a computer program or the material produced as a product of the
computer program is subject to inspection.
(4)
A record or any portion of a record containing information
qualifying as a common law trade secret.
B.
As provided by W.S.A. s. 43.30, public library circulation
records are exempt from inspection under this article.
C.
As provided in Wis. Stats. § 70.47 (7)(af) and Hudson City Code § 11-1, income and expense information obtained by the Assessor in the performance of the Assessor’s duties is exempt from public inspection.
[Added 5-3-2004 by Ord. No. 6-04[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also renumbered
former Subsections C and D as D and E.
D.
In responding to a request for inspection or copying
of a record which is not specifically exempt from disclosure, the
legal custodian, after conferring with the City Attorney, may deny
the request, in whole or in part, only if he or she determines that
the harm to the public interest resulting from disclosure would outweigh
the public interest in full access to the requested record. Examples
of matters for which disclosure may be refused include but are not
limited to the following:
(1)
Records obtained under official pledges of confidentiality
which were necessary and given in order to obtain the information
contained in them.
(2)
Records of current deliberations after a quasi-judicial
hearing.
(3)
Records of current deliberations concerning employment,
dismissal, promotion, demotion, compensation, performance or discipline
of any city officer or employee or the investigation of charges against
a city officer or employee, unless such officer or employee consents
to such disclosure.
(4)
Records concerning current strategy for crime detection
or prevention.
(5)
Records of current deliberations or negotiations on
the purchase of city property, investing of city funds or other city
business whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require nondisclosure.
(6)
Financial, medical, social or personal histories or
disciplinary data of specific persons which, if disclosed, would be
likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of
any person referred to in such history or data.
(7)
Communications between legal counsel for the city
and any officer, agent or employee of the city, when advice is being
rendered concerning strategy with respect to current litigation in
which the city or any of its officers, agents or employees is or is
likely to become involved, or communications which are privileged
under W.S.A. s. 905.03.
E.
If a record contains information that may be made
public and information that may not be made public, the custodian
of the record shall provide the information that may be made public
and delete the information that may not be made public from the record
before release. The custodian shall confer with the City Attorney
prior to releasing any such record and shall follow the guidance of
the City Attorney when separating out the exempt material. If in the
judgment of the custodian and the City Attorney there is no feasible
way to separate the exempt material from the nonexempt material without
unreasonably jeopardizing nondisclosure of the exempt material, the
entire record shall be withheld from disclosure.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 3.06(7), Destruction
of records, and (8), Preservation through microfilm, which immediately
followed this subsection, were deleted by Ord. No. 9-94.
[Adopted by Ord. No. 1-81 as Ch. 27 of the 1981 Code]
[Amended 5-1-2000 by Ord. No. 9-00; 9-21-2020 by Ord. No. 12-20]
A.
The purpose of this article is to provide officers
and employees of the City of Hudson with the authority to retain and
destroy certain public records in possession of the City of Hudson
in conformance with the Wisconsin Municipal Records Schedule (WMRS),
approved by the State of Wisconsin Public Records Board on August
27, 2018, and set to expire August 27, 2028; and when the record is
not contained within the WMRS, to retain and destroy such public records
in conformance with the Public Records Board's other General Records
Schedules (GRS) and their successor schedules.
B.
Any record not covered by the WMRS or the GRS or their
successor schedules shall be retained seven years unless the record
is added by amendment into this article and the shorter time period
is approved by the State Public Records Board.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The individual responsible for maintaining records pursuant
to W.S.A. s. 19.33.
The meaning defined in W.S.A. s. 19.32(2).
A.
Historical Society notification. Prior to the destruction
of any public record as described in W.S.A. § 19.21(4)(a),
(b) or (c), at least 60 days' notice, in writing, shall be given to
the Wisconsin Historical Society unless the requirement is waived
in the WRMS or the GRS or any successor schedule.
[Amended 9-21-2020 by Ord. No. 12-20]
B.
Microfilm, optical imaging, and electronic records.
As provided in W.S.A. § 19.21.(4)(c), documents and records
of the City of Hudson which have been created or transferred entirely
to electronic, microfilm, optical imaging, or other approved alternate
format shall be considered original and subject to state retention
schedules, if they meet the standards of W.S.A. §§ 16.61(7)
and 16.612.
[Amended 9-21-2020 by Ord. No. 12-20]
C.
Destruction after request for inspection. No requested
records may be destroyed until after the request is granted or 60
days after the request is denied or, if the requester is a committed
or incarcerated person, until at least 90 days after the date that
the request is denied.
[Amended 9-21-2020 by Ord. No. 12-20]
D.
Destruction pending litigation. No record subject
to pending litigation shall be destroyed until the litigation is resolved.
E.
Review and approval by Public Records Board. This
article and the retention periods of less than seven years have been
reviewed and approved by the Public Records Board.
[Amended 5-1-2000 by Ord.
No. 9-00]
[Added 9-21-2020 by Ord. No. 12-20[1]]
A.
General Records Schedule adopted. The City hereby
adopts, by reference, the Wisconsin Municipal Records Schedule (hereinafter
"Records Schedule"), pertaining to the retention and destruction of
public records, and approved by the State of Wisconsin Public Records
Board (hereinafter "Records Board") on August 27, 2018, and also hereby
adopts by reference GRS and their successor schedules. A copy of the
Records Schedule will be kept on file in the City Clerk's office located
at 505 Third Street, Hudson, WI, and made available for public viewing
during office hours.
B.
Other records. In the event the City creates a record
not contemplated by the WMRS or GRS, the City may, subject to the
Records Board s prior approval, either adopt an applicable records
retention schedule set forth by the Records Board, if available, or
create its own retention schedule pertaining to the record.
C.
Repeal. All ordinances, or portions thereof, and resolutions,
or portions thereof, in conflict with any portion of the Records Schedule
are hereby repealed. Any approved City retention schedule, or portion
thereof, for any record not contemplated by the Records Schedule or
the GRS, shall remain in full force and effect.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former §§ 73-10
through 73-37.
