(A) The Clerk of Council is the official Public Records Custodian of all records which are centrally maintained by the city. Department heads or designees are the official Public Records Custodians of all records maintained within their departments. The Clerk of Council is the official Public Records Custodian of emails. It is the responsibility of each department head to become familiar with and to educate his or her affected employees about the standards and requirements of this policy.
(B) Public records requests will be accommodated during regular business hours between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. local time on regular business days. Public records requests will not be accepted on weekends, holidays, or outside regular business hours.
(C) A public records request may be made in writing or verbally. The Public Records Custodian may ask the requestor to put a verbal request in writing, or for the requestor to give identifying information, but neither a written request nor identifying information are required. However, such would benefit the requestor by enhancing the ability of the Public Records Custodian to identify, locate, and deliver the public records requested.
(D) Although no specific language is required to make a request, the requestor must at least identify the records requested with sufficient clarity to allow the public office to identify, locate, retrieve, and review the records. If it is not clear what records are being sought, the records custodian must contact the requestor for clarification, and should assist the requestor in revising the request by informing the requestor of the manner in which the office keeps its records.
(E) The actual time required to comply with the request may depend on the circumstances, such as the location of the records or the volume of records being requested, and the necessity for any legal review of the records requested.
(F) Public records can be accessed by one of the following methods: a request to view public records in person; a request for copies of public records that the requestor will personally pick up from the Public Records Custodian; or a request for copies of public records that the requestor wants to have mailed or otherwise delivered to the requestor.
(G) Request to view public records. The requestor may make a request to view public records to the Public Records Custodian, who shall prepare the public records for inspection "promptly," as required by the Ohio Revised Code. As set forth above, the actual time required to comply with the request may depend on the circumstances, such as the location of the records or the volume of records being requested.
(H) Copies of public records.
(1) The requestor may make a request to have copies of public records made to the Public Records Custodian. Copies made on 8½" x 11" paper are $0.05 per black and white single-sided copy. Color copies requested on 8½" x 11" paper cost $0.07 per single-sided copy. All copy charges must be paid in advance before copies are made. If the Public Records Custodian uses an outside copying service to make the copies (see division (H)(2) of this section), the requestor will be required to pay the cost of the entire copying job, as billed by the copying service. Copies that are requested in some format other than paper will be "at cost," without taking into account employee time spent preparing the copies. For example, public records in electronic format placed on a CD will be assessed the cost of the CD, plus the cost, if any, of creating the electronic copies.
(2) Public records will be copied only by the Public Records Custodian or other authorized officers, employees, or representatives. The Public Records Custodian may use an outside copying service to make the copies, at the Public Records Custodian's discretion. Under no circumstances will the requestor be permitted to make the copies himself or herself. The manner of the making of copies is at the discretion of the Public Records Custodian. Requests to copy a certain number of public records on a given page, by "reducing" copy size or otherwise, may be met at the discretion of the Public Records Custodian.
(3) Copies will be made available by the Public Records Custodian "within a reasonable time," as required by the Ohio Revised Code. The time for compliance will depend upon the availability of records and the volume of records requested.
(I) Transmitting copies of public records.
(1) A requestor may request that copies of public records be transmitted to him or her by U.S. Mail or by any other means of transmission that is available and is conducive to transmitting the public records, such as FedEx, UPS, fax, or email. The cost of transmitting must be paid by the requestor before the public records will be transmitted. There is no charge for documents emailed. While the city is under no obligation to provide records in electronic format, it is the policy of the city to provide information to the public in the most convenient way that is practical, considering all of the circumstances. Therefore, if the city receives a request for information to be made available in an electronic format, such request will be forwarded to the Public Records Custodian for a determination as to whether such information will be generated and released in an electronic format.
(2) Copies will be transmitted to the requestor by the Public Records Custodian "within a reasonable time," as required by the Ohio Revised Code. The time for compliance will depend upon the availability of records and the volume of records requested.
(Ord. 07-3250, passed 10-18-07)