City officials, including members of boards and Councils can maintain a personal presence on social media. However, to be considered personal, there can be no mention and discussion of city business. Any mention or discussion of city business potentially changes the nature of the page, required record keeping in accordance with the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives retention schedule and subjecting the entire page to open records requests.
(A) Elected or appointed city officials who want to interact with the community on social media in their role as a city official are required to maintain a separate account. City officials will notify the city clerk of any official pages utilized. The city clerk will maintain an updated list of official pages of city officials.
(B) City Officials shall conduct themselves professionally and as a representative of the city.
(C) Elected city official’s pages shall clearly indicate that any content posted or submitted for posting is subject to public disclosure. Additionally, guidelines, if any, shall be posted conspicuously on the page.
(D) No comments shall be deleted unless in violation of posted guidelines. Deleted comments shall be provided to the city clerk and must be saved for one year.
(E) City officials shall not conduct city business through their social media sites. If receiving a specific request from a citizen, the city official shall state: “Thank you for your question. Please email me at (official city email address, not a personal email) or contact me at (phone number). I look forward to speaking with you.”
(F) City officials shall maintain an official email address and shall provide the email address to the city clerk. This must be a separate account from their personal email account.
(G) Officials should refrain from using personal e-mail to conduct any city business.
(H) The city shall retain emails according to the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives schedule for email. City Officials shall direct any record keeping questions to the city clerk.
(Ord. 23-01, passed 4-11-23)