[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Muttontown 9-11-2000 by L.L. No. 3-2000. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.Â
The people's right to know the process of government
decisionmaking and the documents and statistics leading to determinations
can be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.
B.Â
This article provides information concerning the procedures
by which records may be obtained from an agency defined by Subdivision
3 of § 86 of the Public Officers Law. No agency regulations
shall be more restrictive than this article.
D.Â
Any conflicts among laws governing public access to
records shall be construed in favor of the widest possible availability
of public records.
A.Â
The Board of Trustees ("Board") of the Village shall
be responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations herein
and designates the Village Clerk as the principal records access officer
who shall have the duty of coordinating the Village response to public
requests for access to records. The designation of the Village Clerk
shall not be construed to prohibit the Attorneys for the Village ("Attorneys"),
who have in the past been authorized to make records or information
available to the public, from continuing to do so.
The Board hereby designates the office of the
Village Clerk and the Attorneys as the location where public records
shall be available for public inspection and copying.
The Village Clerk and Attorneys shall accept
requests for public access to records and produce records during all
hours during which the Clerk's office or Attorneys' office is regularly
open for business.
A.Â
The Village Clerk and Attorneys may require that a
request be made, in writing, or may make records available upon oral
request.
B.Â
The Village Clerk and Attorneys shall respond to any
request reasonably describing the record or records sought within
five business days of receipt of the request.
C.Â
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.Â
If the Village Clerk and Attorneys do not provide
or deny access to the records sought within five business days of
receipt of a request, the Village Clerk and Attorneys 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, the
request may be construed as a denial of access that may be appealed.
A.Â
The Village Clerk and Attorneys shall maintain a reasonably
detailed current list by subject matter of all records in his/her
or their possession, whether or not records are available pursuant
to Subdivision 2 of § 87 of the Public Officers Law.
B.Â
The subject matter list shall be sufficiently detailed
to permit identification of the category of the record sought.
C.Â
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.
A.Â
The Board shall hear appeals or shall designate a
person or body to hear appeals regarding denial of access to records
under the Freedom of Information Law.
B.Â
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 person or body established to hear appeals,
and that person or body shall be identified by name, title, business
address and business telephone number. The records access officer
shall not be the appeals officer.
C.Â
If the Board fails to respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request as required in § 138-5 of this article, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access by the agency.
D.Â
Any person denied access to records may appeal within
30 days of a denial.
F.Â
The Board shall transmit to the Committee on Open
Government copies of all appeals upon receipt of an appeal. Such copies
shall be addressed to:
Committee on Open Government
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Department of State
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162 Washington Avenue
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Albany, New York 12231
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G.Â
The Board or the person or body designated to hear appeals shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Open Government of its determination, in writing, within seven business days of receipt of an appeal. The determination shall be transmitted to the Committee on Open Government in the same manner as set forth in Subsection F of this section.
Except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed
by law:
B.Â
The Village Clerk or Attorneys may provide copies
of records without charging a fee.
[Amended 3-10-2021 by L.L. No. 4-2021]
Records Retention and Disposition Schedule LGS-1,
issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law
and containing legal minimum retention periods for municipal government
records, is hereby adopted for use by all municipal officers in disposing
of municipal government records listed therein.
In accordance with Article 57-A:
A.Â
Only those records will be disposed of that are described
in Records Retention and Disposition Schedule LGS-1 after they have
met the minimum retention period prescribed therein.
[Amended 3-10-2021 by L.L. No. 4-2021]
B.Â
Only those records will be disposed of that do not
have sufficient administrative, fiscal, legal or historical value
to merit retention beyond established time periods.