Chapter 2.92
PUBLIC RECORDS
Sections:
2.92.010 Relationship to Public Records Act.
2.92.020 Public records officer.
2.92.030 Maintenance of records.
2.92.040 Index of public records – Findings.
2.92.050 Index of public records – Order.
2.92.060 Disclosure of public records.
2.92.070 Procedure for inspection or copying.
2.92.080 Processing of records requests – Review of decision.
2.92.090 Inspection of records.
2.92.100 Records subject to disclosure – Public records not sufficiently identified.
2.92.110 Denial of request – Appeal.
2.92.120 Electronically stored data and information.
2.92.140 Reimbursement of copying charges.
2.92.150 Model Rules and administrative procedures.
2.92.010 Relationship to Public Records Act.
This chapter constitutes the city’s rules and regulations to carry out and implement the Public Records Act, Chapter 42.56 RCW. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.020 Public records officer.
The city clerk shall serve as the city’s public records officer. Contact information for the city clerk will be made available to the public in a manner reasonably calculated to provide notice of to whom members of the public may direct requests, such as posting such contact information at City Hall or on the city’s Internet website. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.030 Maintenance of records.
A. All substantive and procedural rules of general applicability including but not limited to ordinances and resolutions of the city council, minutes of the regular meetings of the city council, and statements of general policy, and all public contracts, deeds, easements and leases shall be indexed and maintained by the city clerk.
B. Access to police records shall be in accordance with the policy established by the police department, pursuant to laws including but not limited to Chapter 10.97 RCW, Criminal Records Privacy Act, and Chapter 13.50 RCW, Keeping and Release of Juvenile Records.
C. All other such records of the city relating to the specific function or responsibility of a particular department shall be maintained for the use of the department and the general public in the office of the particular department. Such records shall include but not be limited to: planning policies and goals, and interim and final planning decisions; factual staff reports and studies; factual consultant’s reports and studies; scientific reports and studies; and any other factual information derived from tests, studies, reports or surveys, whether conducted by city employees or others. (Ord. 2006 § 1, 2021; Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.040 Index of public records – Findings.
A. The Public Records Act requires all cities and public agencies to maintain and make available a current index of all public records.
B. RCW 42.56.070(4) provides that an agency need not maintain such an index if to do so would be unduly burdensome, but it must issue and publish a formal order specifying the reasons why and the extent to which compliance would be unduly burdensome or would interfere with agency operations.
C. The city is comprised of numerous departments, their divisions and subdivisions, many if not all of which maintain separate databases and/or systems for the indexing of records and information.
D. Because the city has records which are diverse, complex and stored in multiple locations and in multiple computer systems, formats and/or databases, it is unduly burdensome, if not physically impossible, to maintain a current index of all records. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.050 Index of public records – Order.
Based upon the findings set forth in MMC 2.92.040, and pursuant to RCW 42.56.070(4), the city council orders the following:
A. The city is not required to maintain an all-inclusive index of public records due to the undue burden and near-impossibility of maintaining such an index.
B. The city will make available for inspection and/or copying all public records, including any indexes that are maintained by the city as set forth in MMC 2.92.030, except to the extent that such records are exempt from public disclosure. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.060 Disclosure of public records.
Unless exempt from disclosure under this chapter or other law, public records shall be available for inspection and copying in accordance with this chapter. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.070 Procedure for inspection or copying.
A. Requests to inspect and copy public records shall be in writing on a form prescribed by the city clerk and shall identify the public records sought for such inspection and copying. The city clerk shall create and avail for public use a standard form by which a requester may specify particular public records and provide the requester’s relevant contact information. Reasonable assistance as may be necessary to help a requestor locate particular records shall be provided either by the city clerk or by the city department maintaining the records; provided, that the provision of such assistance shall not unreasonably disrupt the normal operations of the city clerk, the department, or the assisting employee.
B. Requests for public records shall be submitted to the city clerk at 1000 Laurel Street, Milton, Washington, 98354, or his or her designee, or online through the city’s web site, except as otherwise provided herein.
C. Except to the extent required or authorized by law, the city clerk or other city employee shall not distinguish among persons requesting records. Persons requesting records shall not be required to provide information as to the purpose for the request, except to establish whether the inspection or copying would violate Chapter 42.56 RCW or other statute or ordinance that exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records to certain persons. (Ord. 2006 § 2, 2021; Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.080 Processing of records requests – Review of decision.
A. Responses to requests for public records shall be made promptly pursuant to Chapter 42.56 RCW. Within five business days of the date of receipt by the city of a written request for a record, the city clerk shall:
1. Provide the record; or
2. Acknowledge that the city has received the request and provide a reasonable estimate of the time the city will require to respond to the request, or request clarification; or
3. Deny the public record request in whole or in part.
B. Public records may be made available on a partial or installment basis as records that are part of a larger set of requested records are assembled or made ready for public inspection or copying. Additional time to respond to a request may be based upon the need to clarify the intent of the request, to locate and assemble the information requested, to notify third persons or agencies affected by the request, or to determine whether any of the information requested is exempt. If a public records request is unclear, the city clerk may ask the requestor to clarify what information the requestor is requesting. If the requestor fails to clarify the request, the city need not further respond to or process the request.
C. If the city clerk determines that the document is exempt in part but can be made available after deletion of exempt portions, the request shall be granted; provided, that such exempt portions shall first be deleted. If the city clerk determines to deny the request, in whole or in part, a written statement of the specific reasons for the denial shall be provided to the requestor; provided, that nothing herein shall be construed as requiring the city to disclose portions of a requested document if the entire document is exempt from disclosure.
D. In the event the city clerk denies inspection of all or any part of a request, the city clerk may seek review by the city attorney. The city clerk will notify the requestor of the decision to grant or deny the request. (Ord. 2006 § 3, 2021; Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.090 Inspection of records.
In the event a requestor chooses to inspect records, the city shall notify the requestor once the records responsive to the request are available for inspection. The records will be available for inspection during customary office hours. Records that have been pulled for inspection shall be made available to the requestor for a period of no more than 14 calendar days. In the event a requestor fails to contact the city clerk, or his or her designee, within 14 calendar days of being notified that the records are available for inspection: (A) the request shall be deemed abandoned; and (B) the records shall be returned to the originating department. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.100 Records subject to disclosure – Public records not sufficiently identified.
The city will disclose records to the extent required by state or federal law and nothing in this policy shall be interpreted as requiring the disclosure of any record that is not subject to disclosure by state or federal law. Generally, any record, or portion thereof, which is exempt from disclosure, will not be disclosed, and information contained in the records may be removed to the extent necessary or permissible by law. Requests for information or for inspection and copying of public records which require city employees to compile information, perform research, require reformatting of data, or which do not otherwise sufficiently identify a record are not considered a request under the Public Records Act or this chapter. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.110 Denial of request – Appeal.
Denials of all or any portion of a request must be accompanied by a written statement of the specific reasons therefor. In the event that the city clerk denies a request for public records, the requestor may appeal the denial to the city attorney. Such review shall be conducted as promptly as reasonably possible and shall constitute final action for the purposes of judicial review. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.120 Electronically stored data and information.
Public records in the form of information or data which is electronically stored shall be subject to public inspection and copying in the following manner:
A. Information or data that is publicly available by computer access without submission of a request for inspection and copying, may be inspected and copied by any person or persons having access to computer equipment capable of such inspection and copying. Subject to budget and financial constraints, public access computer equipment may be made available without charge by the city at public locations.
B. Information or data that is not publicly available by computer access without submission of a request for inspection and copying, but which constitutes public records and is stored, contained or available as data or information within the memory or storage facilities of computer or electronic equipment, is subject to inspection and copying only with the cooperative services of city employees familiar with the operation of equipment that permits such inspection and copying to occur. When public records are adequately identified by the requester, a city employee designated by the city clerk or other appropriate department director shall examine the information to determine if it contains exempt records. If such examination reveals any data or information that is exempt from public inspection and copying, the requested public record shall be printed on paper or transferred to a medium with the exempt portions thereof deleted. If the examination reveals no exempt information, the person requesting inspection and copying, at his or her option, may either view the information on a computer screen, have the information transferred to a storage medium, or ask that the information be printed on paper; provided, however, that the viewing of such information on a computer screen shall not be permitted except where the computer is operated by a city employee and where diverting such city employee from his or her regular duties in order to operate such computer to permit such viewing would not cause excessive interference with essential functions of the city. (Ord. 2006 § 4, 2021; Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.130 Exemptions.
The city adopts by reference the exemptions from public disclosure contained in Chapter 42.56 RCW, including any future amendments thereto or recodification thereof, along with any other exemption or exception to the Public Records Act provided by law, including but not limited to those exemptions set forth in Appendix C to “Public Records Act for Washington Cities and Counties,” Municipal Research and Services Center, Report No. 61, May 2007, as may be amended from time to time, a copy of which shall be maintained in the office of the city clerk. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.140 Reimbursement of copying charges.
A. No fee shall be charged for the inspection of public records or locating public documents and making them available for copying, except as provided in RCW 42.56.240(14) and subsection C of this section. A reasonable charge may be imposed for providing copies of public records and for the use by any person of city equipment to copy public records, which charges shall not exceed the amount necessary to reimburse the city for its actual costs directly incident to such copying. When calculating any fees authorized under this section, the city shall use the most reasonable cost-efficient method available to the city as part of its normal operations. If the city translates a record into an alternative electronic format at the request of a requestor, the copy created does not constitute a new public record for purposes of this chapter. Scanning paper records to make electronic copies of such records is a method of copying paper records and does not amount to the creation of a new public record.
B. 1. City charges for actual costs may only be imposed in accordance with the costs established and published by the city pursuant to RCW 42.56.070(7), and in accordance with the statement of factors and manner used to determine the actual costs. In no event may the city charge a per page cost greater than the actual cost as established and published by the city.
2. The city shall not impose copying charges under this section for access to or downloading of records that the city routinely posts on its public internet website prior to receipt of a request unless the requestor has specifically requested that the city provide copies of such records through other means.
3. A requestor may ask the city to provide, and if requested the city shall provide, a summary of the applicable charges before any copies are made and the requestor may revise the request to reduce the number of copies to be made and reduce the applicable charges.
C. The city may require a deposit in an amount not to exceed 10 percent of the estimated cost of providing copies for a request, including a customized service charge. If the city makes a request available on a partial or installment basis, the city may charge for each part of the request as it is provided. If an installment of a records request is not claimed or reviewed, the city is not obligated to fulfill the balance of the request. The city may waive any charge assessed for a request pursuant to city rules and regulations. The city may enter into any contract, memorandum of understanding, or other agreement with a requestor that provides an alternative fee arrangement to the charges authorized in this section, or in response to a voluminous or frequently occurring request. (Ord. 2006 § 5, 2021; Ord. 1924 § 1, 2017; Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).
2.92.150 Model Rules and administrative procedures.
The city may, in its discretion, follow the Public Records Act Model Rules on file at the city clerk’s office. The mayor, upon recommendation of the city clerk, may issue additional administrative procedures for the implementation of this chapter. (Ord. 1720 § 1, 2008).