Source: https://www.ecode360.com/28254436
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 22:32:43+00:00

Document:
§ 130.020 Meetings, Records and Votes To Be Public — Exceptions.
§ 130.030 Records Pertaining To Internal Investigations and Investigations of Allegedly Illegal Conduct.
§ 130.040 Records Pertaining To Medical Condition or History (in Compliance With HIPAA).
§ 130.045 Notice Required For Public Meeting On Tax Increases, Eminent Domain, Creation of Certain Districts, and Certain Redevelopment Plans.
§ 130.050 Records Containing Confidential, Proprietary or Private Information.
§ 130.060 Notices of Meetings.
§ 130.070 Closed Meetings, How Held.
§ 130.080 Journals of Meetings and Records of Voting.
§ 130.090 Accessibility of Meetings.
§ 130.100 Segregation of Exempt Material.
§ 130.110 Custodian Designated — Response To Request For Access To Records.
§ 130.120 Procedures For Resolving Questions of Public Accessibility.
§ 130.140 "911" Telephone Reports.
Section 130.020 Meetings, Records and Votes To Be Public — Exceptions.
Section 130.030 Records Pertaining To Internal Investigations and Investigations of Allegedly Illegal Conduct.
Section 130.040 Records Pertaining To Medical Condition or History (in Compliance With HIPAA).
Section 130.045 Notice Required For Public Meeting On Tax Increases, Eminent Domain, Creation of Certain Districts, and Certain Redevelopment Plans.
Section 130.050 Records Containing Confidential, Proprietary or Private Information.
Section 130.060 Notices of Meetings.
Section 130.070 Closed Meetings, How Held.
Section 130.080 Journals of Meetings and Records of Voting.
Section 130.090 Accessibility of Meetings.
Section 130.100 Segregation of Exempt Material.
Section 130.110 Custodian Designated — Response To Request For Access To Records.
Section 130.120 Procedures For Resolving Questions of Public Accessibility.
Section 130.140 "911" Telephone Reports.
Any meeting of a public governmental body subject to this Chapter at which any public business is discussed, decided, or public policy formulated, whether such meeting is conducted in person or by means of communication equipment, including, but not limited to, conference call, video conference, Internet chat, or Internet message board. The term "public meeting" shall not include an informal gathering of members of a public governmental body for ministerial or social purposes when there is no intent to avoid the purposes of this Chapter, but the term shall include a public vote of all or a majority of the members of a public governmental body, by electronic communication or any other means, conducted in lieu of holding a public meeting with the members of the public governmental body gathered at one (1) location in order to conduct public business.
Any record, whether written or electronically stored, retained by or of any public governmental body including any report, survey, memorandum, or other document or study prepared for the public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service paid for in whole or in part by public funds, including records created or maintained by private contractors under an agreement with a public governmental body or on behalf of a public governmental body.
The term "public record" shall not include any internal memorandum or letter received or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public governmental body consisting of advice, opinions and recommendations in connection with the deliberative decision making process of said body, unless such records are retained by the public governmental body or presented at a public meeting. Any document or study prepared for a public governmental body by a consultant or other professional service as described in this Section shall be retained by the public governmental body in the same manner as any other public record.
Performs a public function, as evidenced by a statutorily based capacity to confer or otherwise advance, through approval, recommendation or other means, the allocation or issuance of tax credits, tax abatement, public debt, tax exempt debt, rights of eminent domain, or the contracting of lease-back agreements on structures whose annualized payments commit public tax revenues; or any association that directly accepts the appropriation of money from the City, but only to the extent that a meeting, record, or vote relates to such appropriation.
Legal actions, causes of action or litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body or its representatives and its attorneys. However, any minutes, vote, or settlement agreement relating to legal actions, causes of action, or litigation involving a public governmental body or any agent or entity representing its interests or acting on its behalf or with its authority, including any insurance company acting on behalf of a public government body as its insured, shall be made public upon final disposition of the matter voted upon or upon the signing by the parties of the settlement agreement, unless, prior to final disposition, the settlement agreement is ordered closed by a court after a written finding that the adverse impact to a plaintiff or plaintiffs to the action clearly outweighs the public policy considerations of Section 610.111, RSMo., however the amount of any monies paid by, or on behalf of, the public governmental body shall be disclosed; provided however, in matters involving the exercise of the power of eminent domain, the vote shall be announced or become public immediately following the action on the motion to authorize institution of such a legal action. Legal work product shall be considered a closed record.
Leasing, purchase or sale of real estate by a public governmental body where public knowledge of the transaction might adversely affect the legal consideration therefor. However, any minutes or vote or public record approving a contract relating to the leasing, purchase or sale of real estate by a public governmental body shall be made public upon execution of the lease, purchase, or sale of the real estate.
Non-judicial mental or physical health proceedings involving identifiable persons, including medical, psychiatric, psychological, or alcoholism or drug dependency diagnosis or treatment.
Records that identify the configuration of components or the operation of a computer, computer system, computer network, or telecommunications network, and would allow unauthorized access to or unlawful disruption of a computer, computer system, computer network, or telecommunications network of a public governmental body. This exception shall not be used to limit or deny access to otherwise public records in a file, document, data file or database containing public records. Records related to the procurement of or expenditures relating to such computer, computer system, computer network, or telecommunications network, including the amount of monies paid by, or on behalf of, a public governmental body for such computer, computer system, computer network, or telecommunications network, shall be open.
If the custodian of records determines that disclosure is legally required or would otherwise serve the best interests of the public and that such requirements or purpose outweigh the legitimate concerns or interest of the persons to whom the information pertains, the custodian of records shall provide the requested information to the requesting party.
In addition to or in lieu of the hearing described above, the custodian of records may afford all interested parties a reasonable opportunity to seek judicial review of or relief from the proposed disclosure. The custodian of records may also utilize the procedures for judicial determination and/or opinion solicitation provided herein.
Records and information that have been closed pursuant to the provisions of this, Chapter 610, RSMo., and other relevant State and Federal laws and regulations are to be treated as confidential by all employees and elected and appointed officials of the City.
Each public governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, place, and tentative agenda of each meeting in a manner reasonably calculated to advise the public of the matters to be considered, and if the meeting will be conducted by telephone or other electronic means, the notice of the meeting shall identify the mode by which the meeting will be conducted and the designated location where the public may observe and attend the meeting. If a public body plans to meet by Internet chat, Internet message board, or other computer link, it shall post a notice of the meeting on its website in addition to its principal office and shall notify the public how to access that meeting.
Reasonable notice shall include making available copies of the notice to any representative of the news media who requests notice of meetings of a particular public governmental body concurrent with the notice being made available to the members of the particular governmental body and posting the notice on a bulletin board at City Hall or other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose at the City Hall.
The notice shall be given at least twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays when the City Hall is closed, prior to the commencement of any meeting of a governmental body unless for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical, in which case as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given.
A public body shall allow for the recording by audiotape, videotape, or other electronic means of any open meeting. A public body may establish guidelines regarding the manner in which such recording is conducted so as to minimize disruption to the meeting. No audio recording of any meeting, record, or vote closed pursuant to the provisions of Section 610.021, RSMo., shall be permitted without permission of the public body; any person who violates this provision shall be guilty of an ordinance violation.
In the event any member of a public governmental body makes a motion to close a meeting, or a record, or a vote from the public and any other member believes that such motion, if passed, would cause a meeting, record or vote to be closed from the public in violation of any provision of Chapter 610, RSMo., or this Chapter, such latter member shall state his or her objection to the motion at or before the time the vote is taken on the motion. The public governmental body shall enter in the minutes of the public governmental body any objection made pursuant to this Subsection. Any member making such an objection shall be allowed to fully participate in any meeting, record or vote that is closed from the public over the member's objection. In the event the objecting member also voted in opposition to the motion to close the meeting, record or vote at issue, the objection and vote of the member as entered in the minutes shall be an absolute defense to any claim filed against the objecting member pursuant to Chapter 610, RSMo.
A journal or minutes of open and closed meetings shall be taken and retained by the public governmental body, including, but not limited to, a record of any votes taken at such meeting. The minutes shall include the date, time, place, members present, members absent and a record of any votes taken.
All votes by members of a public governmental body at any meeting shall be recorded. When a roll call vote is taken, the minutes shall attribute each "yea" and "nay" vote, or abstinence if not voting, to the name of the individual member of the body. Any votes taken during a closed meeting shall be taken by roll call and the minutes of the closed meeting, sufficient to reflect the vote pursuant to this Subsection, shall be recorded. All votes taken by roll call in meetings of a public governmental body consisting of members who are all elected, except for the Missouri General Assembly and any committee established by a public governmental body, shall be cast by members of the public governmental body who are physically present and in attendance at the meeting. When it is necessary to take votes by roll call in a meeting of the public governmental body, due to an emergency of the public body, with a quorum of the members of the public body physically present and in attendance and less than a quorum of the members of the public governmental body participating via telephone, facsimile, Internet, or any other voice or electronic means, the nature of the emergency of the public body justifying that departure from the normal requirements shall be stated in the minutes. Where such emergency exists, the votes taken shall be regarded as if all members were physically present and in attendance at the meeting.
Each meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to the public, and of sufficient size to accommodate the anticipated attendance by members of the public, and at a time reasonably convenient to the public, unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible or impractical. Every reasonable effort shall be made to grant special access to the meeting to handicapped or disabled individuals.
The City Clerk of the City shall be the custodian of records and will be responsible for maintenance and control of all records. The Board of Aldermen may designate deputy custodians in operating departments of the City and such other departments or offices as the Board of Aldermen may determine. Deputy custodians shall conduct matters relating to public records and meetings in accord with the policies enumerated herein.
Except as otherwise provided by law, the City shall provide access to and, upon request, furnish copies of the City's public records subject to the provisions of this Chapter relating to copying fees. No person shall remove original public records from the City Hall or from the office of the custodian of records without written permission of the custodian. No public governmental body shall grant to any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any public record unless the granting of such right is necessary to facilitate coordination with, or uniformity among, industry regulators having similar authority.
Any member of a public governmental body who transmits any message relating to public business by electronic means shall also concurrently transmit that message to either the member's public office computer or the custodian of records in the same format. The provisions of this Subsection shall only apply to messages sent to two (2) or more members of that body so that, when counting the sender, a majority of the body's members are copied. Any such message received by the custodian or at the member's office computer shall be a public record, subject, however, to the exceptions of Section 610.021, RSMo.
A public governmental body or the custodian in doubt about the legality of closing a particular meeting, record or vote may, subject to approval by the City, bring suit in the Circuit Court for the County of St. Louis to ascertain the propriety of such action. In addition, subject to approval by the City, the public governmental body or custodian may seek a formal opinion of the Attorney General or an attorney for the City regarding the propriety of such action. In such events, the proposed closed meeting or public access to the record or vote shall be deferred for a reasonable time pending the outcome of the actions so taken.
The custodian shall charge ten cents ($0.10) per page for a paper copy not larger than nine (9) by fourteen (14) inches, plus an hourly fee for duplicating time not to exceed the average hourly rate of pay for clerical staff of the City. Research time required for fulfilling records requests may be charged at the actual cost of research time. Based on the scope of the request, the City shall produce the copies using employees of the City that result in the lowest amount of charges for search, research, and duplication time. Prior to producing copies of the requested records, the person requesting the records may request the City to provide an estimate of the cost to the person requesting the records. The custodian shall receive (or may require) payment prior to duplicating and/or searching for documents.
Fees for providing access to public records maintained on computer facilities, recording tapes or disks, video tapes or films, pictures, plans, maps, slides, graphics, illustrations or similar audio or visual items or devices, and for paper copies larger than nine (9) by fourteen (14) inches shall include only the cost of copies, staff time, which shall not exceed the average hourly rate of pay for staff of the City required for making copies and programming, if necessary, and the disk or tape, or other medium used for the duplication. Fees for maps, blueprints, or plats that require special expertise to duplicate may include the actual rate of compensation for the trained personnel required to duplicate such maps, blueprints, or plats. If programming is required beyond the customary and usual level to comply with a request for records or information, the fees for compliance may include the actual costs of such programming.
The City shall remit all monies received by it or for it from fees charged pursuant to Sections 610.010 to 610.280, RSMo., to the appropriate fiscal officer of the City for deposit to the City's accounts.
Excepted as provided by this Section, any information acquired by the City by way of a complaint made by telephone contact using the emergency number "911" shall be inaccessible to the general public. However, information consisting of the date, time, specific location and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of the incident shall be considered to be an incident report and be an open record. Any closed records pursuant to this Section shall be available upon request by law enforcement agencies or the Division of Workers Compensation or pursuant to a valid court order authorizing disclosure upon motion and good cause shown.

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