[Adopted by Ord. No. 82-3; amended by Ord. No. 97-4]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTHORITY
Any of the following having custody of a record: an office, elected official, agency, board, commission, committee, council, department or a formally constituted subunit of Pierce County.
RECORD
Those materials identified at § 19.32(2), Wis. Stats.
REQUESTER
Any person who requests inspection or copies of a record.
A. 
An elected official is the legal custodian of his or her records and of the records of his or her office, but the official may designate an employee to act as the legal custodian.
B. 
The County Clerk or the Clerk's designee shall act as legal custodian for the County Board and for any committees, commissions, boards or authorities created by the County Board.
C. 
For every authority not specified in Subsection A or B of this section, the authority's chief administrative officer or employee or his/her designee is the legal custodian for the authority.
D. 
Each legal custodian shall name a person to act as legal custodian in his or her absence or the absence of his or her designee. This subsection does not apply to members of the County Board.
A. 
Except as provided in § 36-5, any person has a right to inspect a record and to make or receive a copy of any record as provided in § 19.35(1), Wis. Stats.
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 made available upon at least 48 hours' written or oral notice of intent to inspect or copy.
D. 
Each authority shall provide any person who is authorized to inspect or copy a record pursuant to § 19.35(1)(a), (am), (b) or (f), Wis. Stats., or any person who is authorized to and requests permission to photograph a record the form of which does not permit copying pursuant to § 19.35 (1)(f), Wis. Stats., with facilities comparable to those used by its employees to inspect, copy and abstract the record during established office hours. The county is not required by this subsection to purchase or lease photocopying, duplication, photographic or other equipment or to provide a separate room for the inspection, copying or abstracting of records.
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. 
Each authority shall impose a fee upon the requester of a copy of record which may not exceed the actual, necessary and direct cost of reproduction and transcription of the record unless a fee is otherwise specifically established or authorized to be established by the law. The cost of photocopying, photographing or otherwise reproducing records of the county shall be determined on at least an annual basis by the County Clerk, who shall post a notice of said charges in his office. Charges for photocopying and other forms of reproduction which cannot be calculated in advance shall be imposed on an actual cost basis.
G. 
Except otherwise provided by law or as authorized to be prescribed by law, an authority shall impose a fee upon a requester for locating a record not exceeding the actual, necessary and direct cost of location if the cost is $50 or more.
H. 
Each authority shall impose a fee upon a requester for the actual, necessary and direct cost of mailing or shipping of any copy or photograph of a record which is mailed or shipped to the requester.
I. 
An authority may provide copies of a record without charge or at a reduced charge where the authority determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest.
J. 
Each authority shall require prepayment by a requester of any fees imposed under this section if the total amount exceeds $5.
K. 
Pursuant to § 19.34, Wis. Stats., and the guidelines therein listed, the county 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 cost thereof. Each authority shall also post a copy of the notice at its offices.
A. 
A request to inspect or copy a record shall be made to the legal custodian responsible for maintenance of the record in question. 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 § 19.37, Wis. Stats. Except as provided in § 19.35(1)(i), Wis. Stats., no request may be refused because the person making the request is unwilling to be identified or to state the purpose of the request, nor may any request be refused because the request is received by mail, unless prepayment of a fee is required under § 36-3J. A requester may be required to show acceptable identification whenever security reasons or federal law or regulations so require.
B. 
Each authority, 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 in part and the reasons therefor.
C. 
A request for a record may be denied as provided in § 36-5. 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 by mandamus under § 19.37(1), Wis. Stats., or upon application to the Attorney General or a district attorney.
A. 
As provided by § 19.36, Wis. Stats., the following records are exempt from inspection:
(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 of 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 the right of examination and copying, except as otherwise provided by § 19.35(1), Wis. Stats.
(4) 
A record of any portion of a record containing information qualifying as a trade secret.
(5) 
Information contained in a record that is not subject to disclosure under § 19.35(1)(a) or (am), Wis. Stats., shall be deleted from a record prior to its release.
(6) 
Subject to § 19.36(7), Wis. Stats., and the exceptions set forth therein, the identities of applicants for public positions.
(7) 
Subject to § 19.36(8), Wis. Stats., and the exceptions set forth therein, the identities of law enforcement informants.
B. 
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 County Corporation Counsel, 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 or if a specific statute authorizes its nonrelease.
No authority may destroy any record at any time after the receipt of a request for inspection or copying of the record under § 19.35(1), Wis. Stats., until after the request is granted or until at least 60 days after the date that the request is denied. If an action is commenced under § 19.37, Wis. Stats., the requested record may not be destroyed until after the order of the court in relation to such record is issued and the deadline for appealing that order has passed or, if appealed, until after the order of the court hearing the appeal is issued. If the court orders the production of any record and the order is not appealed, the requested record may not be destroyed until after the request for inspection or copying is granted.
All county records for which a specific retention period is not established in state statutes, Administrative Code, federal law or regulation shall be retained by the county for a period of not less than seven years, unless another retention period is designated in this article.
All departments may keep and preserve public records through the use of microfilm or optical disk storage, provided that the applicable standards established in §§ 16.61(7) and 16.612, Wis. Stats., respectively, are met. Departments should consider factors such as retention periods and estimated costs and benefits of converting records between different media in deciding which records to microfilm or store on optical disk. After verification, paper records converted to either microfilm or optical disk storage should be destroyed. The retention periods identified in this article apply to records in any media. For purposes of this article, records which have been microfilmed or stored on optical disks shall be considered to be the original records.
Obsolete, antiquated records which have no administrative use may be destroyed upon enactment of the ordinance codified in this article after notice to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
A. 
Subject only to state law, which, as amended from time to time, may differ from the records retention schedule set forth herein, in which event the state law shall control, the express mention of records maintained by county departments in §§ 36-13 and 36-14 shall serve as the decision of the Board of Supervisors as to the minimum period of time during which records shall be maintained from and after their creation.
B. 
Records subject to this policy shall be identified together with notations as to the following: retention period, statutory/administrative code authority and notification requirement.
(1) 
The "retention period" shall identify the minimum period for which a record shall be retained.
(2) 
The "statutory/administrative code authority" shall identify any guiding or controlling state law or code provisions pertaining to retention periods for records.
(3) 
The references under "notification requirement" mean as follows: "W" means that the State Historical Society of Wisconsin has waived the required sixty-day notice under § 19.21(5)(d), Wis. Stats. With respect to these types of records, no prior notification of intent to destroy the same need be given to the Society. "N/A" means that the notification requirement to the Society is not applicable. "N" shall mean that the Society must be notified prior to destruction of such a record.
(4) 
At the end of the established retention schedule for a given record, the legal custodian for that record shall have the authority to destroy the same in his/her discretion.
[Amended 4-17-2001 by Ord. No. 00-15]
The Sheriff shall maintain departmental records in accord with the following retention schedule:
Type of Record
Retention Period
Statutory/Administrative Code Authority
Notification Requirement
Jail
  Dockets, daily jail records and cash books
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
N
  Check book, commissary records
7 years
W
  Inmate meal records
7 years
W
  Inmate request forms
7 years
W
  Bond receipts
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Inmate files, disciplinary forms, Huber work records, information sheet, visitation card, mail card, court orders, jail and Huber rules, correspondence papers
8 years after release of inmate
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Medical records
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Daily jailer log
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Sign in/out sheets
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Daily inmate roster
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Maintenance logs
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Daily jail log
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Inmate photos and photo records
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Booking sheet
Permanent
N/A
Dispatch
  Radio logs
7 years
W
  Shift logs
7 years
W
  Audio tapes*
120 days
W
Patrol
  Incident reports
10 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Evidence records
10 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Wisconsin accident report
8 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
  Work schedules
7 years
W
  Uniform traffic
1 year after closed, disposed or voided
W
  Vehicle maintenance records
Life of equipment
W
  Civil process papers
7 years
W
  Incident photographs/ negatives
10 years
§ 59.27(8), Wis. Stats.
W
NOTES:
* For the purposes of this section, "audio tapes" shall include all recordings of communications made through the county-wide 911 dispatch system.
The Register of Deeds and Land Information Office shall maintain records in accord with the following retention schedule:
Type of Record
Retention Period
Statutory/Administrative Code Authority
Notification Requirements
Obsolete documents per-taining to chattels, including final books of entry
6 years
§ 59.43(12), Wis. Stats.
W
Plats
Permanent
N/A
Assessors plats
Permanent
N/A
Aerial photographs
Until superseded
N
Certified surveys; plats of survey
Permanent
N/A
Final real property assessment roll
15 years; no assessment roll containing forest crop acreage may be destroyed without prior approval of the Secretary of Revenue
§ 59.52(4)(b), Wis. Stats.
N
Deeds, mortgages, maps; instruments of writing authorized by law and indexes of the same
Permanent
§ 59.43(1), Wis. Stats.
N/A
UCC statewide lien system (computer)
Permanent
§ 409.410, Wis. Stats.
N/A
Marriage, death and birth records and indexes
Permanent
§ 59.43(1)(h), Wis. Stats.,
N/A
 1/4 section maps
Until next set of maps is received
W
Military discharges
Permanent
N/A
Tax receipts; other records from Treasurer
15 years
§ 59.52(4)(a)14 Wis. Stats.
W
UCC Form 11, hard copy
2 years
N/A
U.S. Geological Survey of maps is received
Until next set
W
Section corner monument location documentation
Permanent
§ 59.45(1)(a), Wis. Stats.
N/A
Financing statements
5 years from date of filing or from continuation of filing
§ 406.403, Wis. Stats.
W