[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Lewistown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 12-8-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-10]
This article shall be known as the "Lewistown Borough Open Records
Policy Ordinance."
This article is adopted pursuant to authority granted per the
provisions of the Borough Code, Act of February 1, 1966, P.L. (1965)
No. 581, § 101 et seq., as amended (8 Pa.C.S.A. § 101
et seq.) and the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, Act of February 14,
2008, P.L. 6, No. 3, § 101 et seq. (65 P.S. § 67.101
et seq.).
The Borough of Lewistown recognizes the importance of a public
record as a record of the Borough's actions and as a source of
information about the Borough and its actions. The public has a right
to access and to obtain copies of public records, with certain exceptions,
subject to law, the policy of the Borough and administrative rules
and regulations. Accordingly, the Borough, in accordance with this
article, the law and Borough policy and administrative rules and regulations,
shall make its public records available for access, review and duplication
to a requester.
Certain words as used in this article shall be defined as follows
for the purposes of this article:
Any account, voucher or contract dealing with the receipt
or disbursement of funds or the acquisition, use or disposal of services,
supplies, materials, equipment or property; or the salary or other
payments or expenses paid to an officer or employee, including the
individual's name and title; and a financial audit report, excluding
the audit's underlying work papers.
A record, including a financial record that is not protected
by a defined privilege or is not exempt from being disclosed under
one of the exemptions in Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law or
under other federal or state law or regulation or judicial decree
or order.
Information, regardless of physical form or characteristics,
that documents a Borough transaction or activity and is created, received
or retained pursuant to law or in connection with a Borough transaction,
business or activity, including a document, paper, letter, map, book,
tape, photograph, film or sound recording, information stored or maintained
electronically, and a data-processed or image-processed document.
The Borough's notice informing a requester of a granting
of access to a record or the Borough's written notice to a requester
granting, denying or partially granting and partially denying access
to a requested record.
A legal resident of the United States, or an agency, who
requests access to a record.
The Borough shall designate an Open Records Officer, who shall
be responsible for the following:
A.Â
To receive written requests for access to records submitted to the
Borough.
B.Â
Review and respond to written requests in accordance with law, Borough
policy and administrative regulations.
C.Â
Direct requests to other appropriate individuals in the Borough or
in another agency.
D.Â
Track the Borough's progress in responding to requests.
E.Â
Issue interim and final responses to submitted requests.
F.Â
Maintain a log of all record requests and their disposition.
G.Â
Ensure that Borough staff is trained to perform assigned job functions
relative to requests for access to records.
H.Â
Upon receiving a request for access to a record, the Open Records
Officer shall:
(1)Â
Note the date of receipt on the written request.
(2)Â
Compute and note on the written request the day on which the five-day
time period for response will expire.
(3)Â
Maintain an electronic or paper copy of the written request, including
all documents submitted with the request.
(4)Â
If the written request is denied, maintain the written request for
30 days or, if an appeal is filed, until a final determination is
issued or the appeal is deemed denied.
The following guidelines shall be applicable to requests for
public records:
A.Â
Requesters may access and procure copies of the public records of
the Borough during the regular business hours of the municipal offices.
B.Â
A requester's right of access does not include the right to
remove a record from the control or supervision of the Open Records
Officer.
C.Â
The Borough shall not limit the number of records requested.
D.Â
When responding to a request for access, the Borough is not required
to create a record that does not exist nor to compile, maintain, format
or organize a record in a manner which the Borough does not currently
use.
E.Â
Information shall be made available to individuals with disabilities
in an appropriate format, upon request and with sufficient advance
notice.
The Borough shall post at the Municipal Building the following
information:
A.Â
Contact information for the Open Records Officer.
B.Â
Contact information for the Office of Open Records of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania or other applicable appeals officer.
C.Â
Information or directions as to where the form to be used to file
a request may be obtained, with a notation that the Commonwealth's
Office of Open Records form may also be used if the Borough decides
to create its own form.
D.Â
Borough administrative regulations and procedures governing requests
for access to the Borough's public records.
A.Â
The following shall be applicable to the request and the form of
the request:
B.Â
The Borough shall not require an explanation of the reason for the
request or the intended use of the requested record, unless otherwise
required by law.
Fees shall be charged as follows:
A.Â
Except for any duplication fee established by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, the Borough of Lewistown shall approve by resolution
a list of reasonable fees relative to requests for public records.
The Borough shall maintain a list of applicable fees and disseminate
the list to requesters.
B.Â
No fee may be imposed for review of a record to determine whether
the record is subject to access under law.
C.Â
Prior to granting access, the Borough may require prepayment of estimated
fees when the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to
exceed $100.
D.Â
The Borough Manager may waive duplication fees when the requester
duplicates the record or the Borough Manager deems it is in the public
interest to do so.
A.Â
Borough employees shall be directed to immediately forward requests
for access to public records to the Open Records Officer.
B.Â
Upon receipt of a written request for access to a record, the Open
Records Officer shall determine if the requested record is a public
record and if the Borough has possession, custody or control of that
record.
C.Â
The Open Records Officer shall respond as promptly as possible under
the existing circumstances, and the initial response time shall not
exceed five business days from the date the written request is received
by the Open Records Officer.
D.Â
The initial response shall grant access to the requested record or
deny access to the requested record or partially grant and partially
deny access to the requested record or notify the requester of the
need for an extension of time to fully respond or request more detail
from the requester to clearly identify the records requested.
E.Â
If the Borough fails to respond to a request within five business
days of receipt, the request for access shall be deemed denied.
A.Â
If the Open Records Officer determines that an extension of time
is required to respond to a request, in accordance with the factors
stated in the law, a written notice shall be sent within five business
days of receipt of the request. The notice shall indicate that the
request for access is being reviewed, the reason that the review requires
an extension, a reasonable date when the response is expected, and
an estimate of applicable fees owed when the record becomes available.
B.Â
Up to a thirty-day extension for one of the listed reasons does not
require the consent of the requester. If the response is not given
by the specified date, it shall be deemed denied on the day following
that date.
C.Â
A requester may consent, in writing, to an extension that exceeds
30 days, in which case the request shall be deemed denied on the day
following the date specified in the written consent if the Open Records
Officer has not provided a response by that date.
A.Â
If the Open Records Officer determines that the request will be granted,
the response shall inform the requester that access is granted and
either include information on the regular business hours of the Borough
office, provide electronic access, or state where the requester may
go to inspect the records or information electronically at a publicly
accessible site, if any. The response shall include a copy of the
fee schedule in effect, a statement that prepayment of fees is required
in a specified amount if access to the records will cost in excess
of $100, and the medium in which the records will be provided.
B.Â
A public record shall be provided to the requester in the medium
requested if the public record exists in that form. Otherwise, it
shall be provided in its existing medium. However, in no case whatsoever
is the Borough required to permit use of its computers.
C.Â
The Open Records Officer may respond to a records request by notifying
the requester that the record is available through publicly accessible
electronic means or that the Borough shall provide access to inspect
the record electronically. If the requester, within 30 days following
receipt of the Borough's notice, submits a written request to
have the record converted to paper, the Borough shall provide the
public record in printed form within five days of receipt of the request
for conversion to paper.
D.Â
A public record that the Borough does not possess but is possessed
by a third party with whom the Borough has contracted to perform a
governmental function and which directly relates to that governmental
function shall be considered a public record of the Borough. When
the Borough contracts with such a third party, the Borough shall require
the contractor to agree in writing to comply with requests for such
records and to provide the Borough with the requested record in a
timely manner to allow the Borough to comply with law.
E.Â
If the Open Records Officer determines that a public record contains
information both subject to and not subject to access, the Open Records
Officer shall grant access to the information which is subject to
access and deny access to the information which is not subject to
access. The Open Records Officer shall redact from the record the
information that is not subject to access. The Open Records Officer
shall not deny access to a record if information is able to be redacted.
F.Â
If the Open Records Officer responds to a requester that a copy of
the requested record is available for delivery at the Borough office
and the requester does not retrieve the record within 60 days of the
Borough's response, the Borough shall dispose of the copy and
retain any fees paid to date.
A.Â
When the Borough produces a record that is not a public record in
response to a request, the Open Records Officer shall notify any third
party that provided the record to the Borough, the person that is
the subject of the record, and the requester.
B.Â
The Open Records Officer shall notify a third party of a record request
if the requested record contains a trade secret or confidential proprietary
information, in accordance with law and administrative regulations.
If the Open Records Officer denies a request for access to a
record, whether in whole or in part, a written response shall be sent
within five business days of receipt of the request. The response
denying the request shall include the following:
A.Â
Description of the record requested.
B.Â
Specific reasons for denial, including a citation of supporting legal
authority.
C.Â
Name, title, business address, business telephone number, and signature
of the Open Records Officer on whose authority the denial is issued.
D.Â
The date of the response.
A.Â
The Open Records Officer may deny a request for access to a record
if the requester has made repeated requests for that same record and
the repeated requests have placed an unreasonable burden on the Borough.
B.Â
The Open Records Officer may deny a request for access to a record
when timely access is not possible due to a disaster or when access
may cause physical damage or irreparable harm to the record. To the
extent possible, a public record's contents shall be made accessible
even when the record is physically unavailable.
C.Â
Information that is not subject to access and is redacted from a
public record shall be deemed a denial.
D.Â
If a written request for access to a record is denied or deemed denied,
the requester may file an appeal with the Office of Open Records of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania within 15 business days of the mailing
date of the Open Records Officer's response or of the date of
the deemed denial, as applicable.
[Adopted 7-13-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-4]
Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipal Records Act, Act of December
19, 1996, P.L. 1158, No. 177, as amended, 53 P.S. § 1381
et seq., as amended and, specifically, 53 P.S. §§ 1383,
1386 and 1388, as amended, the Borough of Lewistown hereby adopts
and declares its intent to follow, the Retention and Disposition Schedule
for Public Records of Pennsylvania Municipalities or other like schedule
as is now or hereafter approved for the use of boroughs by the Local
Government Records Committee established under the Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission, or successor agency, and in accordance with
the disposition procedures approved by the Local Government Records
Committee.
The Borough of Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, will
follow the schedules and procedures for disposition of records as
set forth in the Municipal Records Manual issued from time to time
for the Local Government Records Committee by the Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History, and as it may
thereafter be amended, supplemented or superseded. The most recent
Municipal Records Manual has been issued and approved as of December
16, 2008. Upon the adoption by the Borough Council of an appropriate
resolution approving the destruction, the transfer to a depository
outside the Lewistown Municipal Building or any other disposition
of a public record of the Borough and containing a finding or declaration
that the destruction, transfer or other disposition conforms to the
current Retention and Disposition Schedule for Public Records of Pennsylvania
Municipalities, or other like schedule approved by the Local Government
Records Committee, the Borough Secretary shall destroy, transfer or
otherwise dispose of the public record in accordance with the resolution.
For the purposes of §§ 50-16 and 50-17 above, the term "public record" or a term of similar import shall mean a public record as defined by the Pennsylvania Municipal Records Act or as expressly or impliedly defined by or described in the regulations issued by the Local Government Records Committee pursuant to the Act or in the Retention and Disposition Schedule approved by the Local Government Records Committee.
[Added 10-10-2016 by Ord.
No. 2016-8]
The Secretary of the Borough Council of the Borough of Lewistown,
and the Secretary of any board, committee or commission or like body
of the Borough of Lewistown (hereafter referred to as a "Secretary"),
or any person acting at the direction of or under the authority of
such Secretary is hereby authorized to make an audio or audio-visual
recording of any meeting of Borough Council or any board, committee
or commission or like body of the Borough of Lewistown for the purposes
of creating meeting minutes. These audio or audio-visual recordings
shall be recorded over or otherwise destroyed after the Secretary
drafts the minutes of the meeting so recorded and said minutes are
presented for approval.