(a) Upon receipt of a written request for access to a public record, the township shall make a good faith effort to respond as promptly as possible under the circumstances existing at the time of the request. The response shall not exceed five business days from the date of the written request.
(b) The failure of the township to respond in the designated time frame shall be deemed a denial of the request unless one of the following exceptions applies:
(1) The request requires the redaction of information within a public record;
(2) The request requires the retrieval of the document from a remote location;
(3) A timely response cannot be accomplished due to legitimate staffing limitations;
(4) A legal review is necessary;
(5) The requester did not comply with the township’s policies regarding public access;
(6) The requester refuses to pay fees; or
(7) The extent or nature of the request precludes a response within the required time period.
(c) In the event of one or more of the above exceptions, the township shall send written notice to the requester within five business days of the request stating the request is being reviewed, the reason for the review and the exception that applies, the expected response date and an estimate of applicable fees owed when the record becomes available. If a response is expected to be more than 30 days after the five-day period, the request is deemed denied unless otherwise agreed to by the requester in writing.
(Res. 2008-206, passed 12-17-2008)