As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms mean:
COPYING If requested by a member of the public, copies provided as detailed in Section
120.100 of this Chapter, if duplication equipment is available.
PUBLIC BUSINESS All matters which relate in any way to performance of the City's functions or the conduct of its business.
PUBLIC GOVERNMENTAL BODY Any legislative, administrative or governmental entity created by the Constitution or Statutes of this State, orders or ordinances of the City, judicial entities when operating in an administrative capacity or by executive order, including:
1. Any advisory committee or commission appointed by the Mayor or Board of Aldermen.
2. Any department or division of the City.
3. Any other legislative or administrative governmental deliberative body under the direction of three (3) or more elected or appointed members having rule-making or quasi-judicial power.
4. Any committee appointed by or at the direction of any of the entities and which is authorized to report to any of the above-named entities, any advisory committee appointed by or at the direction of any of the named entities for the specific purpose of recommending, directly to the public governmental body's governing board or its Chief Administrative Officer, policy or policy revisions or expenditures of public funds.
5. Any quasi-public governmental body. The term "quasi-public governmental body" means any person, corporation or partnership organized or authorized to do business in this State pursuant to the provisions of Chapters 352, 353 or 355, RSMo., or unincorporated association which either:
a. Has as its primary purpose to enter into contracts with public governmental bodies or to engage primarily in activities carried out pursuant to an agreement or agreements with public governmental bodies; or
b. Performs a public function, as evidenced by a statutorily or ordinance-based capacity, to confer or otherwise advance, through approval, recommendation or other means, the allocation or issuance of tax credits, tax abatement, public debt, tax exempt debt, rights of eminent domain, or the contracting of lease-back agreements on structures whose annualized payments commit public tax revenues; or any association that directly accepts the appropriation of money from the City, but only to the extent that a meeting, record or vote relates to such appropriation.
PUBLIC MEETING Any meeting of a public governmental body subject to this Chapter at which any public business is discussed, decided or public policy formulated, whether such meeting is conducted in person or by means of communication equipment including, but not limited to, conference call, video conference, Internet chat or Internet message board. The term "public meeting" shall not include an informal gathering of members of a public governmental body for ministerial or social purposes when there is no intent to avoid the purposes of this Chapter, but the term shall include a vote of all or a majority of the members of a public governmental body, by electronic communication or any other means, conducted in lieu of holding a public meeting with the members of the public governmental body gathered at one (1) location in order to conduct public business.
PUBLIC RECORD Any record, whether written or electronically stored, retained by or of any public governmental body including any report, survey, memorandum, or other document or study prepared for the public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service paid for in whole or in part by public funds, including records created or maintained by private contractors under an agreement with a public governmental body or on behalf of a public governmental body. The term "public record" shall not include any internal memorandum or letter received or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public governmental body consisting of advice, opinions and recommendations in connection with the deliberative decision-making process of said body, unless such records are retained by the public governmental body or presented at a public meeting. Any documents or study prepared for a public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service as described in this Section shall be retained by the public governmental body in the same manner as any other public record.
PUBLIC VOTE Any vote, whether conducted in person, by telephone, or by any other electronic means, cast at any public meeting of any public governmental body.
Any member of a public governmental body who transmits any message relating to public business by electronic means shall also concurrently transmit that message to either the member's public office computer or the custodian of records in the same format. The provisions of this Section shall only apply to messages sent to two (2) or more members of that body so that, when counting the sender, a majority of the body's members are copied. Any such message received by the custodian or at the member's office computer shall be a public record subject to the exception of Section 610.021, RSMo.
For any public meeting where a vote of the Board of Aldermen is required to implement a tax increase, or with respect to a retail development project when the Board of Aldermen votes to utilize the power of eminent domain, create a transportation development district or a community improvement district, or approve a redevelopment plan that pledges public funds as financing for the project or plan, the Board of Aldermen or any entity created by the City shall give notice conforming with all the requirements of Subsection (1) of Section 610.020, RSMo., at least four (4) days before such entity may vote on such issues, exclusive of weekends and holidays when the facility is closed; provided that this Section shall not apply to any votes or discussion related to proposed ordinances which require a minimum of two (2) separate readings on different days for their passage. The provisions of Subsection (4) of Section 610.020, RSMo., shall not apply to any matters that are subject to the provisions of this Section. No vote shall occur until after a public meeting on the matter at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. If the notice required under this Section is not properly given, no vote on such issues shall be held until proper notice has been provided under this Section. Any legal action challenging the notice requirements provided herein shall be filed within thirty (30) days of the subject meeting, or such meeting shall be deemed to have been properly noticed and held. For the purpose of this Section, a tax increase shall not include the setting of the annual tax rates provided for under Sections 67.110 and 137.055, RSMo.
If a public record contains material which is not exempt from disclosure, as well as material which is exempt from disclosure, the custodian shall separate the exempt and non-exempt material and make the non-exempt material available for examination and copying in accord with the policies provided herein. When designing a public record the custodian shall, to the extent practicable, facilitate a separation of exempt from non-exempt information. If the separation is readily apparent to a person requesting to inspect or receive copies of the form, the custodian shall generally describe the material exempted unless that description would reveal the contents of the exempt information and thus defeat the purpose of the exemption.
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the following definitions:
ARREST An actual restraint of the person of the defendant, or by his/her submission to the custody of the officer, under authority of a warrant or otherwise for a criminal violation which results in the issuance of a summons or the person being booked.
ARREST REPORT A record of a law enforcement agency of an arrest and of any detention or confinement incident thereto together with the charge therefor.
INACTIVE An investigation in which no further action will be taken by a law enforcement agency or officer for any of the following reasons:
1. A decision by the law enforcement agency not to pursue the case.
2. Expiration of the time to file criminal charges pursuant to the applicable statute of limitations or ten (10) years after the commission of the offense, whichever date earliest occurs.
3. Finality of the convictions of all persons convicted on the basis of the information contained in the investigative report, by exhaustion of or expiration of all rights of appeal of such persons.
INCIDENT REPORT A record of a law enforcement agency consisting of the date, time, specific location, name of the victim, and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident, including any logs of reported crimes, accidents and complaints maintained by that agency.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT A record, other than an arrest or incident report, prepared by personnel of a law enforcement agency inquiring into a crime or suspected crime either in response to an incident report or in response to evidence developed by law enforcement officers in the course of their duties.
Except as provided by this Section, any information acquired by the Police Department or a first responder agency by way of a complaint or report of a crime made by telephone contact using the emergency number "911" shall be inaccessible to the general public. However, information consisting of the date, time, specific location, and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of the crime or incident shall be considered to be an incident report and subject to Section
120.120. Any closed records pursuant to this Section shall be available upon request by law enforcement agencies or the Division of Workers' Compensation or pursuant to a valid court order authorizing disclosure upon motion and good cause shown.