Town of Goshen, NY Chapter 38 Records, Public Access to

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Goshen 7-25-1996 by L.L. No. 5-1996. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Records management — See Ch. 22.

§ 38-1 Designation of records access officer.

The Town Board hereby designates the Supervisor of the Town of Goshen as the records access officer.

§ 38-2 Duties of records access officer.

The records access officer shall:

A. Maintain an up-to-date subject matter list.

B. Assist the requester in identifying requested records, if necessary.

C. Upon locating the records, take one of the following actions:

(1) Make records available for inspection; or

(2) Deny access to the records, in whole or in part, and explain, in writing, the reasons therefor.

D. Upon request for copies of records:

(1) Make a copy available upon payment of $0.25 per copy; or

(2) Permit the requester to copy those records.

E. Upon request, certify that a record is a true copy.

F. Upon failure to locate records, certify that:

(1) The Town is not the custodian for such records; or

(2) The records of which the Town is custodian cannot be found after diligent search.

§ 38-3 Time and place for acceptance of requests.

The Town shall accept requests for public access to records during regular business hours at the Goshen Town Office, 41 Webster Avenue, Goshen, New York.

§ 38-4 Request procedure.

A. The Supervisor may require that a request be made in writing or may make records available upon oral request.

B. The Supervisor shall respond to any request reasonably describing the record or records sought within five business days of receipt of the request.

C. A request shall reasonably describe the record or records sought. Whenever possible, a person requesting records should supply information regarding dates, file designations or other information that may help to describe the records sought.

D. If the Supervisor does not provide or deny access to the record sought within five business days of the receipt of a request, the Supervisor shall furnish a written acknowledgment of receipt of the request and a statement of the approximate date when the request will be granted or denied. If access to records is neither granted nor denied within 10 business days after the date of acknowledgment of receipt of a request, such failure may be construed as a denial of access that may be appealed.

§ 38-5 Subject matter list.

A. The Supervisor shall maintain a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter of all records in his possession, whether or not records are available pursuant to Subdivision 2 of § 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 not less than twice per year. The most recent update shall appear on the first page of the subject matter list.

§ 38-6 Denial of access.

A. The members of the Town Board, excepting the Supervisor, are hereby appointed to hear appeals regarding denial of access to records.

B. Denial of access shall be in writing, stating the reason therefor and advising the person denied access of his or her right to appeal to the Town Board.

C. If the Supervisor fails to respond to a request within five business days of receipt of the request, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access by the Town.

D. Any person denied access to records may appeal within 30 days of a denial.

E. The time for deciding an appeal by the Town Board shall commence upon receipt of written appeal identifying:

(1) The date and location of a request for records;

(2) The records that were denied; and

(3) The name and return address of the appellant.

F. The Supervisor shall transmit to the Committee on Public Access to Records[1] copies of appeals upon receipt on an appeal. Such copies shall be addressed to:

Committee on Public Access to Records Department of State 162 Washington Avenue Albany, New York 12231

[1] Editor's Note: Said Committee is now called the "Committee on Open Government."