Chapter 1 · Administration
Article 6. Open Records
1-601 Policy.
(a)It is hereby declared to be the policy of the city that all public records which are made, maintained or kept by or are in the possession of the city, its officers and employees, shall be open for public inspection as provided by, and subject to the restrictions imposed by, the Kansas Open Records Act.
(b)Any person, upon request, shall have access to such open public records for the purpose of inspecting, abstracting or copying such records while they are in the possession, custody and control of the appointed or designated record custodian thereof, or his or her designated representative.
(K.S.A. 45-215 et seq.; Code 2022)
1-602 Record custodians.
(a)All city officers and employees appointed or designated as record custodians under this article shall: protect public records from damage and disorganization; prevent excessive disruption of the essential functions of the city; provide assistance and information upon request; insure efficient and timely action and response to all applications for inspection of public records; and shall carry out the procedures adopted by this city for inspecting and copying open public records.
(b)The official custodian shall prominently display or distribute or otherwise make available to the public a brochure in the form prescribed by the Local Freedom of Information Officer that contains basic information about the rights of a requester, the responsibilities of a public agency, and the procedures for inspecting or obtaining a copy of public records under the Kansas Open Records Act. The official custodian shall display or distribute or otherwise make available to the public the brochure at one or more places in the administrative offices of the city where it is available to members of the public who request public information in person.
(Code 2022)
1-603 Local freedom of information officers.
The Local Freedom of Information Officer shall:
(a)Prepare and provide educational materials and information concerning the Kansas Open Records Act;
(b)be available to assist the city and members of the general public to resolve disputes relating the Kansas Open Records Act;
(c)respond to inquiries relating to the Kansas Open Records Act;
(d)establish the requirements for the content, size, shape and other physical characteristics of a brochure required to be displayed or distributed or otherwise made available to the public under the Kansas Open Records Act. In establishing such requirements for the content of the brochure, the Local Freedom of Information Officer shall include plainly written basic information about the rights of a requester, the responsibilities of the city, and the procedures for inspecting and obtaining a copy of public records under the Act.
(K.S.A. 45-226; Code 2022)
1-604 Public request for access.
All city offices keeping and maintaining open public records shall establish office hours during which any person may make a request for access to an open public record. Such hours shall be no fewer than the hours each business day the office is regularly open to the public. For any city office not open Monday through Friday, hours shall be established by the record custodian for each such day at which time any person may request access to an open public record.
(Code 2022)
1-605 Facilities for public inspection.
All city offices keeping and maintaining open public records shall provide suitable facilities to be used by any person desiring to inspect and/or copy an open public record. The office of the city clerk, being the principal recordkeeper of the city, shall be used as the principal office for providing access to and providing copies of open records to the maximum extent practicable. Requesters of records shall be referred to the office of the city clerk except when the requested records are not in that office and are available in another city office.
(Code 2022)
1-606 Procedures for inspection.
(a)All copying of open public records shall be performed by, or under the supervision of, the record custodian responsible for such records.
(b)The requester should be notified of the estimated costs as set forth in Section 1-614 of this Code and amendments thereto, and that no work will be undertaken until there is payment of such estimated costs. When staff time needed to respond to a request will exceed five (5) hours or the estimated actual cost for staff time needed to fill the request exceeds two hundred dollars ($200), staff shall make reasonable efforts to contact the requester and engage in interactive communication about mitigating costs to fill the request. The requester is not obligated to mitigate costs. As used in the subsection, “reasonable efforts to contact the requester” means contacting the requester through the means of communication provided to the agency by the requester.
(c)If staff has made a reasonable effort to contact the requester and the requester has failed to respond by the end of the third business day, the records request will be deemed to be withdrawn until a subsequent contact has been made by the requester to the City.
(d)In cases where a request for copies of a specific record or records requires search or retrieval of records, the requester should be notified of the estimated costs as set forth in Section 1-614 of this code and amendment thereto, and that no work will be undertaken until there is payment of such estimated costs. Once records are located and/or retrieved, additional fees may be assessed for review of such records in order to determine whether the records, or any portion thereof, are open and copies may be provided. Costs may include the cost to review and redact the requested records but shall not include incidental costs incurred that are not attributable to furnishing the requested records. No copy fees shall be assessed when multiple copies of the record requested have been prepared for free public distribution or when the record custodian determines that the cost of charging and handling the fee exceeds the cost of providing a copy without charge.
(e)In cases where the records requested are available online, the record custodian shall so inform the requester and provide information on where the records may be accessed in lieu of making paper copies thereof. However, if the requester continues to request paper copies of the records, the record custodian shall provide paper copies after collecting the appropriate copy fees.
(f)Mechanical reproduction of a record shall not be undertaken when it is the judgement of the records custodian that any available means of mechanically reproducing the subject record is likely to cause damage to such record.
(g)Removal of open public records from the office where kept and maintained for purposes of making copies shall be permitted only with the written permission of the official department custodian. It shall be unlawful for any person to fail to return records that have been removed from any City department or facility at the time and place where such return has been promised.
(h)Record custodians are encouraged to provide copies of records electronically if possible, and to the extent allowed by law.
(Code 2022; Ord. 805)
1-607 Appointment of official custodians.
The following city officers are hereby appointed as official custodians for purposes of the Kansas Open Records Act and are hereby charged with responsibility for compliance with that Act with respect to the hereinafter listed public records:
(a)City Clerk — All public records kept and maintained in the city clerk’s office and all other public records not provided for elsewhere in this section.
(b)City Treasurer — All public records not on file in the office of the city clerk and kept and maintained in the city treasurer’s office.
(c)Chief of Police — All public records not on file in the office of the city clerk and kept and maintained in the city police department.
(d)Fire Chief — All public records not on file in the office of the city clerk and kept and maintained in the city fire department.
(e)City Attorney — All public records not on file in the office of the city clerk and kept and maintained in the city attorney’s office.
(f)Clerk of the Municipal Court — All public records not on file in the office of the city clerk and kept and maintained in the municipal court.
(Code 2022)
1-608 Appointment of local freedom of information officer.
The city clerk is hereby appointed as the local freedom of information officer and charged with all of the duties as set forth in section 1-603.
(K.S.A. 45-226; Code 2022)
1-609 Designation of additional record custodians.
(a)Each of the official custodians appointed in section 1-607 is hereby authorized to designate any subordinate officers or employees to serve as record custodian. Such record custodians shall have such duties and powers as are set out in the Kansas Open Records Act.
(b)Whenever an official custodian shall appoint another person as a record custodian he or she shall notify the city clerk of such designation and the city clerk shall maintain a register of all such designations.
(Code 2022)
1-610 Requests to be directed to custodians.
(a)All members of the public, in seeking access to, or copies of, a public record in accordance with the provisions of the Kansas Open Records Act, shall address their requests to the custodian charged with responsibility for the maintenance of the record sought to be inspected or copied.
(b)Whenever any city officer or employee appointed or designated as a custodian under this article is presented with a request for access to, or copy of, a public record which record the custodian does not have in his or her possession and for which he or she has not been given responsibility to keep and maintain, the custodian shall so advise the person requesting the record. Further, the person making the request shall be informed as to which custodian the request should be addressed to, if such is known by the custodian receiving the request.
(Code 2022)
1-611 Fee administration.
The city clerk is hereby authorized to provide the clerk’s office, and the office of each record custodian, with sufficient cash to enable the making of change for record fee purposes. Each custodian shall transmit all record fee moneys collected to the city treasurer not less than monthly. Each custodian shall maintain duplicates of all records and copy request forms, completed as to the amount of fee charged and collected, which amounts shall be periodically audited by the clerk-finance officer and treasurer of the city.
(Code 2022)
1-612 Inspection fee.
(a)Where a request has been made for inspection of any open public record which is readily available to the record custodian, there shall be no inspection fee charged to the requester.
(b)In all cases not covered by subsection (a), a record inspection fee shall be charged at the rate of the lowest-cost category of staff reasonably necessary (determined by the City) to provide access to or furnish copies of public records. Charges for staff time should be based on the employee’s salary or hourly wages.
(Code 2022; Ord. 805)
1-613 Copying fee.
(a)A fee of $0.25 per page shall be charged for photocopying public records, such fee to cover the cost of labor, materials and equipment.
(b)For copying any public records which cannot be reproduced by the city’s photocopying equipment, the requester shall be charged the actual cost to the city, including staff time, in reproducing such records.
(c)A fee of $0.10 per page shall be charged for emailing public records.
(K.S.A. 45-219; Code 2022)
1-614 Prepayment of fees.
(a)A record custodian may demand prepayment of the fees established by this article whenever he or she believes this to be in the best interest of the city. The prepayment amount shall be an estimate of the inspection and/or copying charges accrued in fulfilling the record request. Any overage or underage in the prepayment shall be settled prior to inspection of the requested record or delivery of the requested copies.
(b)Prepayment of inspection and/or copying fees shall be required by the record custodian whenever he or she believes this to be in the best interest of the city
(c)Prepayment of inspection and/or copying fees shall be required whenever, in the best estimate of the record custodian, such fees are estimated to exceed two hundred dollars ($200) or require five (5) or more hours of city staff time to respond to the request.
(1)The records custodian shall make reasonable efforts to contact the requestor of such requirements.
(2)If the requester fails to respond within three (3) business days to the fee request, the request will be considered withdrawn.
(Code 2022; Ord. 805)
1-615 Payment.
All fees charged under this article shall be paid to the custodian of the records inspected and/or copied unless the requester has established an account, for purposes of billing and payment, with the city.
(Code 2022)