Village of Kingdom City, MO Chapter 120 Open Meetings and Records Policy

Article I In General

Section 120.010 Open Meetings And Records Law (Sunshine Law).

A. Village To Comply. The Village, and all elected officials and staff, will comply with the provisions of Chapter 610, RSMo., as amended from time to time.

B. Custodian Of Records Designated. The Village Clerk is hereby designated as the "custodian of records" for the Village of Lexington. Such designation does not mean that the Village Clerk will necessarily have all the records in his/her possession, but simply is an indication to which requests for copies of records and information regarding the Village Government shall be directed. Requests for records made to persons other than the Village Clerk shall not be considered to be requests that are made pursuant to the Missouri Sunshine Law, Chapter 610 of the State Statutes. Nonetheless, any official or employee of the Village who receives a request is directed to inform the Village Clerk of the request in a timely fashion, so that a response may be made to the request.

C. Closed Records And Votes. All records of the Village which are permitted to be closed records by reason of the Sunshine Law or by any other Statute of Missouri or by any Statute or regulation of the United States Government shall be maintained as closed records. No such closed record shall be released to any person who is not a part of the Village Government, except that the Village's auditor may see such records as are reasonably necessary to prepare an audit report as requested by the Village, and the Village's Attorney may see such records as are reasonably necessary to represent the Village. Requests that closed records be opened to public inspection will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Village Board.

D. Public Notice Board. The custodian of records shall establish a fixed place where all public notices and agendas will be posted. This notice board should be in a place that is accessible to members of the public at times when the Village Hall is open and (if possible) should be lighted and available for public inspection even at times when the Village Hall is closed. A window or glass door at the entrance to the Village Hall may be used as the notice board, provided such notices are placed in such a fashion that they can be read by persons on the outside of the Village Hall.

Section 120.020 Custodian Designated — Response To Request For Access To Records.

A. The Village Clerk shall be the custodian of records and will be responsible for maintenance and control of all records. The custodian may designate deputy custodians in operating departments of the Village and such other departments or offices as the custodian may determine. Deputy custodians shall conduct matters relating to public records and meetings in accord with the policies enumerated herein.

B. Each public governmental body shall make available for inspection and copying by the public that body's public records. No person shall remove original public records from the office of a public governmental body or its custodian without written permission of the designated custodian. No public governmental body shall, after August 28, 1998, grant to any person or entity, whether by contract, license or otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any public record unless the granting of such right is necessary to facilitate coordination with, or uniformity among, industry regulators having similar authority.

C. Each request for access to a public record shall be acted upon as soon as possible, but in no event later than the end of the third business day following the date the request is received by the custodian of records of a public governmental body. If records are requested in a certain format, the public body shall provide the records in the requested format, if such format is available. If access to the public record is not granted immediately, the custodian shall give a detailed explanation of the cause for further delay and the place and earliest time and date that the record will be available for inspection. This period for document production may exceed three (3) days for reasonable cause.

D. If a request for access is denied, the custodian shall provide, upon request, a written statement of the grounds for such denial. Such statement shall cite the specific provision of law under which access is denied and shall be furnished to the requester no later than the end of the third business day following the date that the request for the statement is received. (RSMo. § 610.023, 2004)

Section 120.030 Fees For Copying Public Records — Limitations.

A. Except as otherwise provided by law, each public governmental body shall provide access to and, upon request, furnish copies of public records subject to the following:

1. Fees for copying public records, except those records restricted under Section 32.091, RSMo., shall not exceed ten cents ($0.10) per page for a paper copy not larger than nine (9) inches by fourteen (14) inches, with the hourly fee for duplicating time not to exceed the average hourly rate of pay for clerical staff of the public governmental body. Research time required for fulfilling records requests may be charged at the actual cost of research time. Based on the scope of the request, the public governmental body shall produce the copies using employees of the body that result in the lowest amount of charges for search, research and duplication time. Prior to producing copies of the requested records, the person requesting the records may request the public governmental body to provide an estimate of the cost to the person requesting the records. Documents may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge when the public governmental body determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the public governmental body and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

2. Fees for providing access to public records maintained on computer facilities, recording tapes or disks, videotapes or films, pictures, maps, slides, graphics, illustrations or similar audio or visual items or devices and for paper copies larger than nine (9) inches by fourteen (14) inches shall include only the cost of copies, staff time, which shall not exceed the average hourly rate of pay for staff of the public governmental body required for making copies and programming, if necessary, and the cost of the disk, tape or other medium used for the duplication. Fees for maps, blueprints or plats that require special expertise to duplicate may include the actual rate of compensation for the trained personnel required to duplicate such maps, blueprints or plats. If programming is required beyond the customary and usual level to comply with a request for records or information, the fees for compliance may include the actual cost of such programming.

B. Payment of such copying fees may be requested prior to the making of copies. (RSMo. § 610.026, 2004)

Article II Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 120.040 Village May Seek Formal Opinion Of Attorney General.

[Ord. No. 28, 10-6-1987]

The Board of Trustees, when in doubt about the legality of closing a particular meeting, record or vote, may bring suit at the expense of the Village in the Circuit Court of Callaway County to ascertain the propriety of any such action, or seek a formal opinion of the Attorney General or an attorney for the Village.

Section 120.050 Board May Provide Defense Of Member Charged With Violation.

[Ord. No. 28, 10-6-1987]

The Board of Trustees of the Village of Kingdom City, Missouri, may provide for the legal defense of any member charged with a violation of Sections 610.010 to 610.030, RSMo.