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CITY OF WOODBURN PUBLIC RECORDS POLICY 1. Purpose The City of Woodburn recognizes that the Oregon Public Records Law (ORS 192.410-192.505) gives members of the public the right to inspect and copy certain public records maintained by the City. The City also recognizes that certain records maintained by the City are exempt from public disclosure, or that disclosure may require balancing the right of the public to access the records against individual privacy rights, governmental interests, confidentiality issues and attorney/client privilege. In addition to the Public Records Law, the City is subject to other state and federal laws concerning access to certain records. Where these laws are applicable, they shall control access to certain records. When the city receives a request to inspect or copy public records, costs are incurred by the City in responding to the request. The purpose of this Public Records Policy is to establish an orderly and consistent procedure for responding to public records requests; to establish the basis for a fee schedule designed to reimburse the City for the actual costs incurred in responding to public records requests; and to inform citizens of the procedures and guidelines that apply to public records requests. 2. Policy It is the policy of the City to respond in an orderly, consistent and reasonable manner in accordance with the Oregon Public Records Law and consistent with other applicable state and federal laws, to requests to inspect or receive copies of public records maintained by the City. The City shall respond to all requests within five business days and will fill the request within an additional ten (10) business days or issue a written response that estimates how long fulfilling the request will take. 3. Public Records The Oregon Public Records Law defines public records as any information that: A. Is prepared, owned, used or retained by the City; B. Relates to an activity, transaction or function of the City; and C. Is necessary to satisfy the fiscal, legal, administrative or historical policies, requirements or needs of the City. -ORS 192.005 This Oregon law also provides that a record may be handwritten, typed, photocopied, printed, microfilmed, and exist in the electronic form such as e-mail or a word processing document, or other ---PAGE BREAK--- types of electronic recordings. Many public records requests are requests for information that would actually require the creation of a new public record. Public bodies are not obligated under applicable law to create new public records where none exists in order to respond to requests for information. Although a public body may, if it chooses, create a new record to provide information, the public body does not have to create a new record and only has a duty to allow the inspection and copying of an existing public record. The City is obligated to provide public records in the format in which they exist. The City will provide records in alternative format at no cost, if necessary, to provide reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities. Public records shall be maintained and managed in a manner that protects the integrity of the records within the City without regard to the technology or medium used to create or communicate the record, from the time of creation of a public record to the time of final disposition of the public record as determined by their authorized records retention schedule. 4. Procedure a. All public records requests must be made in writing using the city’s Public Records portal on the city’s website, at: www.woodburn-or.gov. A printed form may be submitted if necessary to provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. Printed requests shall be directed to: City of Woodburn Attn: City Recorder 270 Montgomery Street Woodburn, OR 97071 Requests for Woodburn Police Department Records shall be directed to: Woodburn Police Department Attn: Support Services Division 1060 Mt. Hood Ave Woodburn, OR 97071 The City shall respond to all requests within five business days and will fulfill the request within an additional ten (10) business days or issue a written response that estimates how long fulfilling the request will take. b. The City will provide the requester with an estimate of the costs incurred by the City to provide the requested documents, including copying charges, research and redaction time (if required),. Upon receipt of the cost estimate, the requester must confirm to the City in writing that the requester wishes for the City to proceed with the request. c. If the estimated cost is $25 or more, the City will require a deposit in the full amount of the estimate before fulfilling the request. If the actual costs incurred by the City to respond to the request are more than the amount deposited, the City may charge the requester for all such additional costs and may require an additional amount be deposited before any additional work on fulfilling the request proceeds. If the actual cost exceeds the estimate, the City will not release the documents until the fee is received in full. If the cost estimated is less than $25, the City will fulfill the request and present the requester with an invoice to be paid before release of documents. ---PAGE BREAK--- d. If the City receives an unusual request, or the scope of the request is unclear, the City may request additional clarification before responding to the request. Once the City makes a request for additional information or clarification, its obligation to complete its response to the request is suspended until the requester provides the information or clarification or affirmatively declines to provide additional information or clarification. If the requester does not respond to the City’s request for clarification or additional information within 60 days, the City will close the request. e. Upon receipt of payment the City will contact the requester and arrange for inspection of the original public records, or to pick up the copies, or to confirm the copies are to be mailed, and advise of the final cost which must be paid before inspection occurs or the copies are provided. f. A place for one person will be provided for reviewing files. One file at a time will be made available. If more than one person wants to review files at the same time, reservations must be made in advance for a conference room. A research fee will be charged to cover a staff person’s time for remaining in the room with the files. g. If a public records request is denied, the City will prepare a denial of the request, which shall be provided to the person making the request in writing as soon as is practicable. 5. Public Records Exempt from Disclosure Under ORS 192.355 there are certain records that are identified as exempt from disclosure. Under ORS 192.345 other public records are conditionally exempt from disclosure, meaning they will only be provided where the public interest requires disclosure in the particular instance. A determination based on any exemption will be made only after review and advice from the City Attorney. A few specific exemptions that apply to public records include, but are not limited to, the following: a) Personal Safety Exemption- ORS 192.445(1) b) Public Records Relating to Litigation- ORS 192.345 c) Personnel Discipline Actions- ORS 192.345 (12) d) Personal Privacy Exemption- ORS 192.355(2) e) Public Employees Addresses, Dates of Birth and Telephone Numbers- ORS 192.355(3) f) Confidential Information Submitted by Citizens- OR 192.355(4) g) Records Deemed Confidential or Privileged under Federal and State Laws or Regulation - ORS 192.355(8) & h) Social Security Numbers (ORS 646A.620) 6. Fees The fee for responding to a public records request will be reasonably calculated to reimburse the City for its actual costs in making the records available and may include: a. Charges for the time spent by City staff or any City contractor to locate the requested public records, to review the records in order to determine whether any requested records are exempt from disclosure, to segregate exempt records, to supervise the requester’s inspection of original ---PAGE BREAK--- documents, to copy records, to certify records as true copies and to send records by special or overnight methods such as express mail or overnight delivery. b. Complex requests that require significant staff time or attorney review to complete will be charged a fee equivalent to the salary (hourly wage plus benefits) of each employee involved given the time needed for processing the request. All time spent for public records requests will be recorded in 15-minute increments. c. A per page charge for photocopies of requested records. d. A per item charge for providing CDs, audiotapes, or other electronic copies of requested records. e. The City will prepare an estimate of the charges that will be incurred to respond to a public records request. If the estimated cost is $25 or more, the City will require the requester to deposit the full amount of the estimated amount before fulfilling the request. If the actual costs incurred by the City to respond to the request are more than the amount deposited, the City may charge the requester for all additional costs, and may require an additional amount be deposited before any additional work on fulfilling the request proceeds. If the actual costs incurred by the City to respond to a records request are less than the amount of any required prepayment, the overpayment will be refunded. If the cost to fulfill the request is estimated to be less than $25, the City will fulfill the request and present the requester with an invoice to be paid before the release of the documents. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the City may, at the City’s discretion, with the permission of the City Administrator, furnish copies of requested records without charge or at a reduced fee if the City determines that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest. 7. Departmental Duties and Policies The City Recorder is the designated Records Custodian for all public records maintained by the City, regardless of which City Department maintains the record or where the record is located. The City Recorder shall establish a system to monitor each step of the process in responding to a request to inspect public records to insure that the person making the request has a response within the statutorily required time frame and that a copy of each request and corresponding records related to the City’s response, including notes of each contact with the person making the request is maintained. Subject to prior approval by the City Recorder and the City Attorney, a Department Manager may establish a separate Departmental policy to allow verbal or written requests to be made directly to the Department for public records maintained by the Department that are routinely requested by members of the public in connection with the Department’s regular duties. The Department Manager shall appoint a Records Management Coordinator, who shall be responsible for reviewing and responding to public records requests received from the City Recorder or made under a Department Policy for responding to routine requests. ---PAGE BREAK--- The Records Management Coordinator shall conduct a review to determine what public records, if any, exist which are responsive to the request and if any records might be exempt from disclosure. The Department should not, without prior approval of the City Recorder, compile information or create documents related to a public records request. Once it is determined whether any responsive public records exist, the Records Management Coordinator should make an estimate of the expected costs in complying with the request and forward a copy of the estimate to the City Recorder within five business days of receipt of the materials from the City Recorder. If the estimate cannot be completed within five business days, the City Recorder should be advised of the estimated time to complete the review and estimate. No further work on the request will be undertaken until the Records Management Coordinator has received notice from the City Recorder that the estimated costs have been deposited with the City Recorder. When the City Recorder has given notice that the estimated costs have been paid, the Records Management Coordinator should proceed to prepare the original public records for inspection, or have photocopies made of the records if copies have been requested. The Records Management Coordinator shall keep a record of all time spent in responding to the request and any applicable costs. The original public records, or the photocopies, if applicable, should be forwarded to the City Recorder, along with a final report of costs incurred. Should the Records Management Coordinator or City Recorder believe there are public records that are, or may be, exempt from public disclosure, the records shall be provided to the City Attorney for review and redaction before the records are released for inspection or copying. The City Attorney shall keep a record of all time spent reviewing the request and provide that information to the Records Management Coordinator for inclusion in the final report of costs incurred. 8. Copyrighted Material If the City maintains public records containing copyrighted material, the City will permit the person making the request to inspect the copyrighted material and may allow limited copying of such material if allowed under copyright law. The City may require written consent from the copyright holder or an opinion from the person's legal counsel before allowing copying of such materials.