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AI- 1500
Work Session and Regular Meeting
Meeting Date: 01/26/2016  
Department: Legal  

AGENDA CAPTION:
Discuss The Proposed Public Information Policy For The Town Of Addison.
BACKGROUND:
The City Secretary's Office, in coordination with the City Attorney, has drafted a Public Information Policy ("Policy"). . This policy establishes clear guidelines for all Town Staff to follow when responding to and completing Open Records Requests ("Requests"). Below are a few important recommendations in the Policy:

1. Staff will charge for Requests that are over 50 pages. The 50 page trigger for charges is in line with the fee schedule set forth by the Attorney General. Once a Request reaches copies of 50 pages, the municipality can charge staff time. Staff affirms this practice for the Town. When complying with Requests in accordance with the Public Information Act, some Requests can be very time consuming and labor intensive for staff. Specifically, some requests are in the hundreds of pages or may take many hours of valuable staff time to copy and produce the records requested. Pursuant to the Public Information Act, these charges allow the Town to recoup a small portion of cost to the Town to fulfill the Requests. 

2. This Policy also creates guidelines for staff to respond in a timely manner. The Public Information Act gives the municipality up to 10 business days to respond.  The  proposed policy gives the City Secretary 24 hours to assign the request to the responsible department. After assignment, the department then has three (3) days to provide the documents to the City Secretary's Office. These guidelines will help the City Secretary and the City Attorney have ample time to review the documents and decide what information is public.

3. When all Requests are treated equally, as the Policy recommends, Town Staff and individuals requesting information can know what to expect from the Town. The Policy ensures that the Town is acting in accordance with State Law.

This policy will not change the customer service level that requestors receive in Addison, and does not conflict with the Public Information Act.
RECOMMENDATION:
Administration seeks approval from Council to bring forward a Resolution adopting the policy at a future meeting.
Attachments
Policy

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