(a) Authority. Any of the following Village of Edgar entities having custody of a Village record: an office, elected official, agency, board, commission, committee, council, department or public body corporate and politic created by constitution, law, ordinance, rule or order; or a formally constituted subunit of the foregoing.
(b) Custodian. That officer, department head, division head, or employee of the Village designated under Section 3-3-3 or otherwise responsible by law to keep and preserve any Village records or file, deposit or keep such records in his or her office, or is lawfully in possession or entitled to possession of such public records and who is required by this Section to respond to requests for access to such records.
(c) Public Record. "Public records" are:
(1) All property and things received from the (municipal) officer's predecessor or other persons and required by law to be filed, deposited, or kept in the officer's office, or which are in the lawful possession or control of the officer or the officer's deputies [Sec. 19.21(1), Wis. Stats.];
(2) Any material on which written, drawn, printed, spoken, visual, or electromagnetic infonnation or electronically generated or stored data is recorded or preserved, regardless of physical form or characteristics, that has been created or is being kept by an authority [Sec. 19.32(2), Wis. Stats.];
(3) All books, papers, maps, photographs, films, recordings, optical discs, electronically formatted documents, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any state agency or its officers or employees in connection with the transaction of public business [Sec. 16.61(2)(b), Wis. Stats.]; and
(4) Includes, but is not limited to, handwritten, typed or printed pages, maps, charts, photographs, films, recordings, tapes (including computer tapes), CDs, DVDs, flash drives, emails, and computer printouts. "Public record" does not include drafts, notes, preliminary computations and like materials prepared for the originator's personal use or prepared by the originator in the name of a person for whom the originator is working; materials which are purely the personal property of the custodian and have no relation to his/her office or employmen/duties with the municipality; materials to which access is limited by copyright, patent or bequest; and published materials in the possession of the authority other than a public library which are available for sale, or which are available for inspection at a public library.
(d) Direct Cost. The actual cost of personnel plus all expenses for paper, copier time, depreciation and supplies.
(e) Actual Cost. The total cost of personnel including wages, fringe benefits and all other benefits and overhead related to the time spent in search of records.
State Law Reference:
Secs. 16.61 and 19.21, Wis. Stats.