Town of South Berwick, ME Records Department

The Town Clerk or his or her Deputy shall:

Serve as Clerk of the Council and perform such other duties for the Council as it may require. He or she shall authenticate by his or her signature and be responsible for the filing, indexing and safekeeping of all proceedings of the Council, which shall be open to public inspection.

Make all the arrangements for elections and keep and maintain all election records and have custody of all property used in connection with elections.

Issue to every person appointed to any office by the Town Council or by the Town Manager a certificate of such appointment.

Publish all legal notices unless otherwise provided.

File and preserve all contracts, surety bonds, oaths of office and other documents not required to be filed elsewhere.

Issue all licenses and permits and collect the fees required therefor as provided by state law or Town ordinance.

Notify the Chief of Police on or within one week after the expiration date of each license or permit, when a new license or permit to take effect on such expiration date has not been applied for, except when the Town Clerk knows that no new license or permit is required.

Obtain and maintain all statistics relating to births, marriages and deaths as required by law.

Be the custodian of the Official Town Seal.

Perform all duties and exercise all powers incumbent upon or vested in town clerks generally which are not inconsistent with the Town Charter.

Maintain in his or her office a public information service to furnish information concerning the Town government relative to the public service. All requests for information shall be complied with promptly and courteously, provided that the required information is available in the office of the Town Clerk; otherwise, the Town Clerk shall either, as the applicant for information may prefer, refer the individual applicant to the proper department or request the proper agency of the Town for such information as is required, and such agency shall supply the same as quickly as possible consistent with the extent or type of information requested. Nothing herein shall be construed to require the Town Clerk to supply or to request any other department to supply the type of information which either state law or the public interest requires to be kept confidential, nor shall any information be prepared or supplied when the cost of so doing would result in increased expense to the Town; such information, however, shall be supplied at the expense of the applicant, provided that the estimated cost is paid for in advance by the applicant, subject to final adjustment on the basis of actual cost or at an agreed upon charge paid by the applicant, in advance, to the Town Clerk or to the department undertaking such extra expense.

Account for all public moneys received by him in such a manner as the Treasurer may prescribe.

Notify promptly all department heads of Council actions of concern to them.