[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of
the Village of Saukville 12-17-1985 by Ord. No. 389 as Secs 2.30 to 2.37 of
the 1985 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any of the following Village entities having custody of a
Village record: an office, elected official, agency, board, commission,
committee, council, department or public body corporate and politic
created by constitution, law, ordinance, rule or order; or a formally
constituted subunit of the foregoing.
That officer, department head, division head or employee of the Village designated under § 41-3 or otherwise responsible by law to keep and preserve any Village records or files, deposit or keep such records in his or her office, or is lawfully in possession or entitled to possession of such public records and who is required by this chapter to respond to requests for access to such records.
Any material on which written, drawn, printed, spoken, visual
or electromagnetic information is recorded or preserved, regardless
of physical form or characteristics, which has been created or is
being kept by an authority. "Record" includes, but is not limited
to, handwritten, typed or printed pages, maps, charts, photographs,
films, recordings, tapes (including computer tapes), computer printouts
and optical disks. "Record" does not include drafts, notes, preliminary
computations and like materials prepared for the originator's personal
use or prepared by the originator in the name of a person for whom
the originator is working; materials which are purely the personal
property of the custodian and have no relation to his or her office;
materials to which access is limited by copyright, patent or bequest;
and published materials in the possession of an authority other than
a public library which are available for sale, or which are available
for inspection at a public library.
[Amended 4-17-2001 by Ord. No. 565]
A.Â
Except as provided under § 41-7, each officer and employee of the Village shall safely keep and preserve all records received from his or her predecessor or other persons and required by law to be filed, deposited or kept in his or her office or which are in the lawful possession or control of the officer or employee or his or her deputies, or to the possession or control of which he or she or they may be lawfully entitled as such officers or employees.
B.Â
Upon the expiration of an officer's term of office
or an employee's term of employment, or whenever the office or position
of employment becomes vacant, each such officer or employee shall
deliver to his or her successor all records then in his or her custody
and the successor shall receipt therefor to the officer or employee
who shall file such receipt with the Village Clerk. If a vacancy occurs
before a successor is selected or qualifies, such records shall be
delivered to and receipted for by the Clerk on behalf of the successor,
to be delivered to such successor upon the latter's receipt.
A.Â
Each elected official is the legal custodian of his
or her office.
B.Â
Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Village Clerk
or the Clerk's designee shall act as legal custodian for the Village
Board and for any committees, commissions, boards or other authorities
created by ordinance or resolution of the Village Board.
D.Â
Each legal custodian shall name a person to act as
legal custodian in his or her absence or the absence of his or her
designee.
A.Â
Except as provided in § 41-6, any person has a right to inspect a record and to make or receive a copy of any record as provided in § 19.35(1), Wis. Stats.
B.Â
Records will be available for inspection and copying
during all regular office hours.
C.Â
If regular office hours are not maintained at the
location where records are kept, the records will be available for
inspection and copying upon at least 48 hours' advance notice of intent
to inspect or copy.
D.Â
A requester shall be permitted to use facilities comparable
to those available to Village employees to inspect, copy or abstract
a record.
E.Â
The legal custodian may require supervision during
inspection or may impose other reasonable restrictions on the manner
of access to an original record if the record is irreplaceable or
easily damaged.
F.Â
A
requester shall be charged a fee to defray the cost of locating and
copying records and supervision as follows:
[Amended 12-4-2001 by Ord. No. 577; 6-24-2014 by Ord. No. 748]
G.Â
Pursuant to § 19.34, Wis. Stats., and the
guidelines therein listed, each authority shall adopt, prominently
display and make available for inspection and copying at its offices,
for the guidance of the public, a notice containing a description
of its organization and the established times and places at which,
the legal custodian from whom, and the methods whereby, the public
may obtain information and access to records in its custody, make
requests or obtain copies of records, and the costs thereof.
A.Â
A request to inspect or copy a record shall be made
to the legal custodian. A request shall be deemed sufficient if it
reasonably describes the requested record or the information requested.
However, a request for a record without a reasonable limitation as
to subject matter or length of time represented by the record does
not constitute a sufficient request. A request may be made orally,
but a request must be in writing before an action to enforce the request
is commenced under § 19.37, Wis. Stats. Except as provided
below, no request may be refused because the person making the request
is unwilling to be identified or to state the purpose of the request.
No request may be refused because the request is received by mail,
unless prepayment of a fee is required under § 41-4F(6).
A requester may be required to show acceptable identification whenever
the requested record is kept at a private residence or whenever security
reasons or federal law or regulations so require.
B.Â
Each custodian, upon request for any record, shall,
as soon as practicable and without delay, either fill the request
or notify the requester of the authority's determination to deny the
request in whole or in part and the reasons therefor. If the legal
custodian, after conferring with the Village Attorney, determines
that a written request is so general as to be unduly time consuming,
the party making the request may first be required to itemize his
or her request in a manner which would permit reasonable compliance.
C.Â
A request for a record may be denied as provided in § 41-6. If a request is made orally, the request may be denied orally unless a demand for a written statement of the reasons denying the request is made by the requester within five business days of the oral denial. If a written request is denied in whole or in part, the requester shall receive a written statement of the reasons for denying the request. Every written denial of a request shall inform the requester that if the request for the record was made in writing, then the determination is subject to review upon petition for a writ of mandamus under § 19.37(1), Wis. Stats., or upon application to the Attorney General or a district attorney.
A.Â
As provided by § 19.36, Wis. Stats., the
following records are exempt from inspection under this section:
(1)Â
Records specifically exempted from disclosure by state
or federal law or authorized to be exempted from disclosure by state
law.
(2)Â
Any record relating to investigative information obtained
for law enforcement purposes if federal law or regulations require
exemption from disclosure or if exemption from disclosure is a condition
to receipt of aids by the state.
(3)Â
Computer programs, although the material used as input
for a computer program or the material produced as a product of the
computer program is subject to inspection.
(4)Â
A record or any portion of a record containing information
qualifying as a common law trade secret.
B.Â
As provided by § 43.30, Wis. Stats., public
library circulation records are exempt from inspection under this
section.
C.Â
In responding to a request for inspection or copying
of a record which is not specifically exempt from disclosure, the
legal custodian, after conferring with the Village Attorney, may deny
the request, in whole or in part, only if he or she determines that
the harm to the public interest resulting from disclosure would outweigh
the public interest in full access to the requested record. Examples
of matters for which disclosure may be refused include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(1)Â
Records obtained under official pledges of confidentiality
which were necessary and given in order to obtain the information
contained in them.
(2)Â
Records of current deliberations after a quasi-judicial
hearing.
(3)Â
Records of current deliberations on employment, dismissal,
promotion, demotion, compensation, performance or discipline of any
Village officer or employee, or the investigation of charges against
a Village officer or employee, unless such officer or employee consents
to such disclosure.
(4)Â
Records concerning current strategy for crime detection
or prevention.
(5)Â
Records of current deliberations or negotiations on
the purchase of Village property, investing of Village funds or other
Village business whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require
nondisclosure.
(6)Â
Financial, medical, social or personal histories or
disciplinary data of specific persons which, if disclosed, would be
likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of
any person referred to in such history or data.
(7)Â
Communications between legal counsel for the Village
and any officer, agent or employee of the Village, when advice is
being rendered concerning strategy with respect to current litigation
in which the Village or any of its officers, agents or employees is
or is likely to become involved, or communications which are privileged
under § 905.03, Wis. Stats.
D.Â
If a record contains information that may be made
public and information that may not be made public, the custodian
of the record shall provide the information that may be made public
and delete the information that may not be made public from the record
before release. The custodian shall confer with the Village Attorney
prior to releasing any such record and shall follow the guidance of
the Village Attorney when separating out the exempt material. If,
in the judgment of the custodian and the Village Attorney, there is
no feasible way to separate the exempt material from the nonexempt
material without unreasonably jeopardizing nondisclosure of the exempt
material, the entire record shall be withheld from disclosure.
A.Â
Village officers may destroy records of which they
are the legal custodians and which are considered obsolete, after
completion of any required audit by the Bureau of Municipal Audit
or an auditor licensed under Ch. 442, Wis. Stats., but not less than
seven years after payment or receipt of any sum involved in the particular
transaction, unless a shorter period has been fixed by the State Public
Records Board pursuant to § 16.61(3)(e), and then after
such shorter period.
B.Â
Unless notice is waived by the State Historical Society,
at least 60 days' notice shall be given the State Historical Society
prior to the destruction of any record as provided by § 19.21(4)(a),
Wis. Stats.
C.Â
Any tape recordings of a governmental meeting of the
Village may be destroyed, erased or reused no sooner than 90 days
after the minutes of the meeting have been approved and published,
if the purpose of the recording was to make minutes of the meeting.
D.Â
No authority may destroy any record at any time after the receipt of a request for inspection or copying of the record under §§ 41-4, 41-5 and 41-6 of this chapter until after the request is granted or until at least 60 days after the date that the request is denied. If an action is commenced under § 19.37 Wis. Stats., the requested record may not be destroyed until after the order of the court in relation to such record is issued and the deadline for appealing that order has passed, or, if appealed, until after the order of the court hearing the appeal is issued. If the court orders the production of any record and the order is not appealed, the requested record may not be destroyed until after the request for inspection or copying is granted.
Any Village officer or the director of any department or division of Village government may, subject to the approval of the Village Board, keep and preserve public records in his or her possession by means of microfilm or other photographic reproduction method. Such records shall meet the standards for photographic reproduction set forth in § 16.61(7)(a) and (b), Wis. Stats., and shall be considered original records for all purposes. Such records shall be preserved along with other files of the department or division and shall be open to public inspection and copying according to the provisions of state law and of §§ 41-4, 41-5 and 41-6 of this chapter.