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Reference Documents:
Text of Document: CITY OF ______________, TENNESSEE
RESOLUTION NO._______
A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION OF, ACCESS TO AND DUPLICATION OF PUBLIC RECORDS UNDER THE TENNESSEE OPEN RECORDS LAW (T.C.A. § 10-7-504, et seq.)
BE IT RESOLVED by the ____________________________ of the City of __________, Tennessee,
Section 1. Procedures regarding access to an inspection of public records:
A. Consistent with the Public Records Act of the State of Tennessee, personnel of the City of _____________ shall provide full access and assistance in a timely and efficient manner to Tennessee residents who request access to public documents.
B. Employees of the City of _____________ shall protect the integrity and organization of public records with respect to the manner in which the records are inspected and copied. All inspections of records must be performed under the supervision of the records custodian or designee. All copying of public records must be performed by employees of the city, or, in the event that city personnel are unable to copy the records, by an entity or person designated by the records custodian.
C. To prevent excessive disruptions of the work, essential functions, and duties of employees of the City of _____________, persons requesting inspection and/or copying of public records shall complete a records request form to be furnished by the city. If the requesting party refuses to complete a request form, a city employee shall complete the form with the information provided by the requesting party. Persons requesting access to open public records shall describe the records with specificity so that the records may be located and made available for public inspection or duplication, as provided in B above. All requests for public records shall be directed to the records custodian.
D. When records are requested for inspection or copying, the records custodian has seven days to determine whether the city can retrieve the records requested and whether the requested records contain any confidential information, and the estimated charge for copying based upon the number of copies and amount of time required.
Within seven days of a request for records the records custodian shall:
1) produce the records requested;
2) deny the records in writing, giving explanation for denial; or,
3) in the case of voluminous requests, provide, in writing, the requestor with an estimated time frame for production and an estimation of duplication costs.
E. There is no charge assessed to a requester for inspecting a public record. Charges for physical copies of records, in accordance with the Office of Open Records Counsel (OORC) schedule of reasonable charges, are as follows:
a. $.15 per copy for black and white copies.
b. $.50 per copy for colored copies.
c. Accident reports--$.15 per copy.
d. Maps, plats, electronic data, audio discs, video discs, and all other materials shall be duplicated at actual costs to the city.
F. Requests requiring less than one hour of municipal employee labor for research, retrieval and duplication is free to the requester. Labor in excess of one hour may be charged by the city, in addition to the cost per copy, as provided in E. The city may require payment in advance of producing voluminous records. Requests for copies of records may not be broken down to multiple requests for the same information in order to qualify for the first free hour. For a requests requiring more than one employee to complete, labor charges will be assessed based on the following formula:
In calculating the charge for labor, a department head shall determine the number of hours each employee spent producing a request. The department head shall then subtract the one (1) hour threshold from the number of hours the highest paid employee(s) spent producing the request. The department head will then multiply the total number of hours to be charged for the labor of each employee by that employee’s hourly wage. Finally, the department head will add together the totals for all the employees involved in the request and that will be the total amount of labor that can be charged.
G. The Police Chief shall maintain in his office records of undercover investigators containing personally identifying information. All other personnel records of the police department shall be maintained in the office of the records custodian. [This provision is for small police departments who do not have personnel trained in records management. Larger police departments should maintain personnel records in the department under the supervision of a trained records custodian]. Requests for personnel records, other than for undercover investigators, shall be made to the records custodian, who shall promptly notify the Police Chief of such request. The Police Chief shall make the final determination as to the release the information requested. In the event that the Police Chief refuses to release the information, he shall provide a written explanation of his reasons for not releasing the information.
H. If the public records requested are frail due to age or other conditions, and copying of the records will cause damage to the original records, the requesting party may be required to make an appointment for inspection.
Section 2. This resolution shall become effective upon its passage, the public welfare requiring it.
_______________________________ Date:__________________________
Mayor
Attest:__________________________
City Recorder |