[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of
the Village of Siren 1-8-1988 as Title 2, Ch. 9 of the 1988 Code. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The total cost of personnel, including wages, fringe benefits
and all other benefits and overhead related to the time spent in search
of records.
Any of the following Village entities having custody of a
Village 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 Village designated under § 136-3 or otherwise responsible by law to keep and preserve any Village 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 chapter to respond to requests for access to such records.
The actual cost of personnel plus all expenses for paper,
copier time, depreciation and supplies.
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 bequest;
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.
Except as provided under § 136-7, each officer and employee of the Village 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 which are in the lawful possession or control of the officer or employee or his or her deputies, or to the possession or control of which he or she or they may be lawfully entitled as such officers or employees.
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 said receipt with the Village Clerk-Treasurer. If a
vacancy occurs before a successor is selected or qualifies, such records
shall be delivered to and receipted for by the Clerk-Treasurer, 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, but the official
may designate the Village Clerk-Treasurer to act as the legal custodian.
B.
Unless provided in Subsection C, the Village Clerk-Treasurer or the Clerk-Treasurer's designee shall act as legal custodian for the Village Board and for any committees, commissions, boards, or other authorities created by ordinance or resolution of the Village Board. The following offices or authorities shall have as a legal custodian of records the individual so named:
Authority
|
Designated Legal Custodian
| |
---|---|---|
Village Assessor's office
|
Village Assessor
| |
General Village records (including Board records)
|
Village Clerk-Treasurer
| |
Police Department
|
Chief of Police
| |
Village Attorney's office
|
Village Attorney
|
D.
Each legal custodian shall name a person to act as
legal custodian in his or her absence or in the absence of his or
her designee, and each legal custodian shall send notice of the designated
deputy to the Village Clerk-Treasurer.
E.
The Village Clerk-Treasurer shall establish criteria
for establishing the records system and shall cause the department/office
records system to be reviewed on an annual basis.
A.
Except as provided in § 136-6, 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.
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 Village 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 as set by the Village
Board to defray the cost of copying records.
(1)
If the form of a written record does not permit copying,
the actual and necessary cost of photographing and photographic processing
shall be charged.
(2)
The actual full cost of providing a copy of other
records not in printed form on paper, such as films, computer printouts,
audiotapes and videotapes, shall be charged.
(3)
If mailing or shipping is necessary, the actual cost
thereof shall also be charged.
(4)
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.
(5)
The legal custodian shall estimate the cost of all
applicable fees and shall require a cash deposit adequate to assure
payment, if such estimate exceeds $5.
(6)
Elected and appointed officials of the Village shall
not be required to pay for public records they may reasonably require
for the proper performance of their official duties.
(7)
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 § 19.34, Wis. Stats., 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.
This subsection does not apply to members of the Village Board.
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 § 19.37, Wis. Stats. 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 § 136-4F(5). 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 regulations 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 in part and the reasons therefor. If the legal
custodian, after conferring with the Village 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 § 136-6. 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 § 19.37(1), Wis. Stats., or upon application to the Attorney General or a district attorney.
A.
As provided in § 19.36, Wis. Stats., the
following records are exempt from inspection under this chapter:
(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 and files, although the material
used as input for a computer program/file or the material produced
as a product of the computer program is subject to inspection; and
B.
As provided by § 43.30, Wis. Stats., public
library circulation records are exempt from inspection under this
section.
C.
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 Village 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)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(a), Wis. Stats.,
records of current deliberations after a quasi-judicial hearing.
(3)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(b) and (c), Wis.
Stats., records of current deliberations concerning employment, dismissal,
promotion, demotion, compensation, performance, or discipline of any
Village officer or employee, or the investigation of charges against
a Village officer or employee, unless such officer or employee consents
to such disclosure.
(4)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(d), Wis. Stats.,
records concerning current strategy for crime detection or prevention.
(5)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(e), Wis. Stats.,
records of current deliberations or negotiations on the purchase of
Village property, investing of Village funds, or other Village business
whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require nondisclosure.
(6)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(f), Wis. Stats.,
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)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(g), Wis. Stats.,
communications between legal counsel for the Village and any officer,
agent or employee of the Village, when advice is being rendered concerning
strategy with respect to current litigation in which the Village or
any of its officers, agents or employees is or is likely to become
involved, or communications which are privileged under § 905.03,
Wis. Stats.
(8)
Pursuant to § 19.85(1)(h), Wis. Stats.,
requests for confidential written advice from an ethics board and
records of advice given by such ethics board on such requests.
D.
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 Village Attorney
prior to releasing any such record and shall follow the guidance of
the Village Attorney when separating out the exempt material. If,
in the judgment of the custodian and the Village 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.
A.
Village officers may destroy the following nonutility
financial records of which they are the legal custodian and which
are considered obsolete, after completion of any required audit by
an auditor licensed under Ch. 442, Wis. Stats., but not less than
seven years after payment or receipt of any sum involved in the particular
transaction, unless a shorter period has been fixed by the State Public
Records Board pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e), Wis. Stats., and
then after such shorter period:[1]
(1)
Bank statements, deposit books, slips and stubs.
(2)
Bonds and coupons after maturity.
(3)
Canceled checks, duplicates and check stubs.
(4)
License and permit applications, stubs and duplicates.
(5)
Payrolls and other time and employment records of
personnel included under the Wisconsin Retirement Fund.
(6)
Receipt forms.
(7)
Special assessment records.
(8)
Vouchers, requisitions, purchase orders and all other
supporting documents pertaining thereto.
B.
Village officers may destroy the following utility
records of which they are the legal custodian and which are considered
obsolete, after completion of any required audit by an auditor licensed
under Ch. 442, Wis. Stats., subject to State Public Service Commission
regulations, but not less than seven years after the record was effective,
unless a shorter period has been fixed by the State Public Records
Board pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e), Wis. Stats., and then after
such shorter period, except that water stubs, receipts of current
billings and customers' ledgers may be destroyed not less than two
years after payment or receipt of the sum involved or the effective
date of said record:[2]
C.
Village officers may destroy the following records
of which they are the legal custodian and which are considered obsolete,
but not less than seven years after the record was effective, unless
another period has been set by statute, and then after such period,
or unless a shorter period has been fixed by the State Public Records
Board pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e), Wis. Stats., and then after
such shorter period:
(1)
Contracts and papers relating thereto.
(2)
Correspondence and communications.
(3)
Financial reports other than annual financial reports.
(4)
Justice dockets.
(5)
Oaths of office.
(6)
Reports of boards, commissions, committees and officials
duplicated in the Village Board proceedings.
(7)
Election notices and proofs of publication.
(8)
Canceled voter registration cards.
(9)
Official bonds.
(10)
Police records other than investigative records.
(11)
Resolutions and petitions, provided that the
text of the same appears in the official Village minutes.
D.
Notwithstanding the above provisions appearing in
this section, it is intended hereby that election materials may be
destroyed according to lesser time schedules as made and provided
in § 7.23, Wis. Stats.
E.
Unless notice is waived by the State Historical Society,
at least 60 days' notice shall be given the State Historical Society
prior to the destruction of any record as provided by § 19.21(4)(a),
Wis. Stats.
F.
Any tape recordings of a governmental meeting of the
Village may be destroyed, erased or reused no sooner than 90 days
after the minutes of the meeting have been approved and published,
if the purpose of the recording was to make minutes of the meeting.
Any Village officer or the director of any department or division of Village government may, subject to the approval of the Village Clerk-Treasurer, keep and preserve public records in his or her possession by means of microfilm or other photographic reproduction method. Such records shall meet the standards for photographic reproduction set forth in § 16.61(7)(a) and (b), Wis. Stats., and shall be considered original records for all purposes. The Village Clerk-Treasurer may also authorize the storage of public records in electronic format or by the use of optical disks, subject to regulations prescribed by the Department of Administration pursuant to § 16.612, Wis. Stats. Such records shall be preserved along with other files of the department or division and shall be open to public inspection and copying according to the provisions of state law and of §§ 136-4 through 136-6 of this Chapter.