[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Babylon 10-1-1974 by Res. No. 15. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Amended 5-7-1985 by L.L. No. 1-1985]
The records and other documents available to
public inspection pursuant to Chapter 578 of the Laws of 1974, § 88
of the Public Officers Law, as amended, shall be available for inspection
and copying to members of the public between the hours of 9:30 a.m.
and 4:00 p.m., daily, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
The head of each department of Town government
shall be the custodian of records generated by or in the physical
possession of such department.
Each custodian shall permit inspection, and
any copying and certification of documents pursuant hereto shall be
in accordance with the fee schedule then currently in force by the
Town Clerk for such purposes.
[Amended 12-8-2010 by L.L. No. 38-2010]
The procedures established by the Town Clerk
for actual inspection and copying of documents and currently in force
in the Town shall be continued by each custodian, except as inconsistent
herewith.
Until the State Committee on Public Access to
Records shall otherwise provide, the following material shall be deleted
from all documents made available to the public hereunder:
A.
Confidential matter which is also irrelevant to the
department's work.
B.
Employment, credit and medical histories of employees,
unless released by such employee.
C.
Medical and personal records of clients or of cases
of the Department of Social Services or of the Department of Law.
D.
Names and addresses of any variety, when sought to
be used for commercial purposes, e.g., mailing lists.
E.
Any records, the disclosure of which would work hardship
to the individuals involved therein, which are irrelevant to the department's
work, and which are nonessential records of the Town.
The Town Clerk shall maintain and update monthly
an index of the materials to be made available under these regulations.
Such index shall be conspicuously posted and available to the public.
Each custodian of a department containing a
multiple-member board, commission, etc., shall maintain a voting record
of all individuals voting on said boards and commissions as a public
document.
Upon request for a document, the custodian shall
make a diligent search for the document. If located, it shall be made
available to the requester pursuant to these regulations. If, after
diligent search therefor, the custodian is unable to locate the record,
he shall certify in writing to that effect. All documents copied are
entitled to be certified as to accuracy, and the custodian thereof
shall do so, if requested. The custodian shall deny access to any
record not required to be disclosed by these regulations and applicable
law.
The following documents are exempt from the
provisions of these regulations, pursuant to law:
A.
Documents exempted by statutes other than § 88
of the Public Officers Law.
B.
Material disclosed to the Town in confidence, for
the purposes of securing a commercial license, etc., disclosure of
which, through a public medium, would allow economic advantage to
persons not entitled thereto.
D.
Material which is a part of law enforcement investigative
records.
Any individual denied access to a document pursuant
to the provisions of these regulations may appeal such denial to the
Town Attorney. Upon hearing such appeals, the Town Attorney shall
determine the propriety of the denial. If he shall determine that
such denial was improper, he shall order the custodian to make the
requested document available. If he shall determine that such denial
was proper, he shall render a written statement to that effect with
his grounds therefor to the requester within seven days of appeal
hearing. Conspicuously printed on such written determination shall
be appropriate language informing the appellant of his right to further
appeal of the denial, pursuant to certiorari, under Article 78 of
the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
