Source: https://www.ecode360.com/29529238
Timestamp: 2018-12-12 11:44:58
Document Index: 97008387

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 120', '§1', '§2', '§2', '§2', '§2', '§3', '§1', '§2', '§2', '§2', '§3', '§1']

City of Weldon Spring, MO Public Meetings, Votes and Records
§ 120.125 Violations — Fines.
Chapter 120 Public Meetings, Votes and Records
Section 120.125 Violations — Fines.
Editor's Note — Ord. no. 04-15 adopted August 26, 2004, amended this article without any direction as to what was specifically to be amended. At the editor's discretion, we have placed it as follows: §1 has been set out in subsection C of 120.020 and §2(1 and 2) are set out as subsections (A) and (B) of section 120.020; §2(3, 4, 6) are set out in subsections (A, B, D) of section 120.060; §2(5) is set out in section 120.090(A); §2(7) is set out in section 120.110 (replacing it in it's entirety); §3 is set out as a new section 120.125: violations — fines.
Any meeting of a public governmental body subject to this Chapter at which any public business is discussed, decided or public policy formulated, whether corporeal or by means of communication equipment. 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 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.
[Ord. No. 04-15 §§1, 2(1 — 2), 8-26-2004]
Lease, purchase or sale of real estate by a public governmental body where public knowledge of the transaction might adversely affect the legal consideration therefore. However, any vote or public record approving a contract relating to the lease, 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.
Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting an employee of a public governmental body. However, any vote on a final decision, when taken by a public governmental body, to hire, fire, promote or discipline an employee of a public governmental body must be made available to the public within seventy-two (72) hours of the close of the meeting where such action occurs; provided however, that any employee so affected shall be entitled to prompt notice before such decision is made available to the public.
Non-judicial, mental or physical health proceedings involving identifiable persons, including medical, psychiatric, psychological or alcoholism or drug dependency diagnosis or treatment.
Testing and examination materials, before the test or examination is given or if it is to be given again, before so given again.
Specifications for competitive bidding until either the specifications are officially approved by the public governmental body or the specifications are published for bid.
Sealed bids and related documents until the earlier of either when the bids are opened or all bids are accepted or all bids or rejected.
Individually identifiable personnel records, performance ratings or records pertaining to employees or applicants for employment, except that this exemption shall not apply to names, positions, salaries and lengths of service of officers and employees of public agencies once they are employed as such.
All records that may be closed hereby are deemed closed records unless the governmental body votes to make them public. Before closing a meeting to the public, a majority of the quorum of the governmental body must vote to do so in a public vote. The vote of each member of the governmental body on the question of closing the meeting or vote and the reason for closing the meeting shall be referenced to a specific exception and shall be announced at a public meeting and entered into the minutes.
If a meeting is to be conducted by telephone or over the internet (such as a chat room), the notice of the meeting must include the mode by which the meeting will occur, and the notice must be posted on the public body's website. The City also must allow for the recording of its meetings by audio, video or other electronic means, and may adopt guidelines regarding the manner in which recordings are conducted to minimize disruption of the meeting.
[Ord. No. 04-15 §2(3,4,6), 8-26-2004]
The governmental body shall give notice of the time, date and place of a closed meeting and the reason for holding it by reference to a specific exception. The notice shall be the same as in Subsection (D) below. No other business may be discussed in a closed meeting that does not directly relate to the specified reason announced to close the meeting to the public.
The governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, place and tentative agenda of each meeting. The notice shall be placed on the appropriate bulletin board at City Hall at least twenty-four (24) hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays, prior to the meeting. If an emergency makes it impossible to give twenty-four (24) hours' notice, the reason must be reflected in the minutes. Notice also shall be given to any representative of the news media who requests notice of a particular meeting.
Except as provided in Section 120.020, rules authorized pursuant to Article III of the Missouri Constitution and as otherwise provided by law, all votes shall be recorded, and if a roll call is taken, as to attribute each "yea" and "nay" vote, or abstinence if not voting, to the name of the individual member of the public governmental body. Any votes taken during a closed meeting or session shall be taken by roll call. All public meetings shall be open to the public and public votes and public records shall be open to the public for inspection and duplication.
[Ord. No. 04-15 §2(5), 8-26-2004]
Each meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to the public and at a time reasonably convenient to the public, unless for good cause such a place or time in impossible or impractical. When it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than twenty-four (24) hours' notice, or at a place that is not reasonably accessible to the public, or at a time that is not reasonably convenient to the public, the nature of the good cause justifying that departure from the normal requirements shall be stated in the minutes.
[Ord. No. 04-15 §2(7), 8-26-2004]
The City Clerk shall be the custodian of records and will be responsible for maintenance and control of all records. The custodian shall provide public access to all public records as soon as possible but not later than the third (3rd) business day following the date the request is received by the custodian. If additional delay is necessary, the custodian shall give an explanation for the delay and the date the record will be available for inspection.
The custodian shall receive (or may require) payment prior to duplicating documents.
The custodian may designate deputy custodians in departments of the City.
A public governmental body or record custodian in doubt about the legality of closing a particular meeting, record or vote may, subject to approval by the Board of Aldermen, bring suit at the expense of the public governmental body in the Circuit Court for the County of St. Charles to ascertain the propriety of such action. In addition, subject to approval by the Board of Aldermen, 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.
[Ord. No. 04-15 §3, 8-26-2004]
Upon finding by a preponderance of the evidence that a public governmental body or a member of a public governmental body has purposely violated Sections 610.010 to 610.027, RSMo., the public governmental body or the member shall be subject to a civil fine in the amount of not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). The penalty for unknowingly violating these provisions shall be an amount of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). There is an absolute defense for an Alderman to any claim filed against that Alderman alleging a violation of the Sunshine Law. This absolute defense occurs when an Alderman objects to and votes against a closed session and the court may order the payment by such body or member of all costs and reasonable attorney fees to any party successfully establishing a violation of Sections 610.010 to 610.028, RSMo.
[Ord. No. 98-31 §1, 9-8-1998]
Except as otherwise provided by law, each public governmental body shall provide access to and upon request furnish copies of public records, subject to the following:
Fees for copying public records shall not exceed the actual cost of document search and duplication. Upon request, the governmental body shall certify in writing that the actual cost of document search and duplication is fair, reasonable and does not exceed the actual cost incurred by the public governmental body. Documents may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge when the public governmental body determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the public governmental body and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.
Fees for providing access to public records maintained on computer facilities, recording tapes or discs, video tapes or films, pictures, slides, graphics, illustrations or similar audio or visual items or devices shall include only the cost of copies, staff time required for making copies and programming, if necessary, and the disk or tape used for the duplication. Payment of such copying fees may be requested prior to the making of copies.
Any person, attorney for a person, or insurer of a person involved in any incident or whose property is involved in an incident may obtain any records closed pursuant to this Section or Section 120.170 for purposes of investigation of any civil claim or defense as provided by this Subsection. Any individual, his/her attorney or insurer involved in an incident or whose property is involved in an incident, upon written request, may obtain a complete unaltered and unedited incident report concerning the incident and may obtain access to other records closed by the Police Department pursuant to this Section. Within thirty (30) days of such request, the Police Department shall provide the requested material or file a motion pursuant to this Subsection with the Circuit Court having jurisdiction over the Police Department stating that the safety of the victim, witness or other individual cannot be reasonably ensured, or that a criminal investigation is likely to be jeopardized. Pursuant to Section 610.100(4), RSMo., if, based on such motion, the court finds for the Police Department, the court shall either order the record closed or order such portion of the record that should be closed to be redacted from any record made available pursuant to this Subsection.
If the person arrested is charged but the case is subsequently nolle prossed, dismissed, or the accused is found not guilty, or imposition of sentence is suspended in the court in which the action is prosecuted, official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records when such case is finally terminated, except as provided in Section 120.170 and except that the court's judgment or order or the final action taken by the prosecutor in such matters may be accessed. If the accused is found not guilty due to mental disease or defect pursuant to Section 552.030, RSMo., official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records upon such findings, except that the disposition may be accessed only by law enforcement agencies, child care agencies, facilities as defined in Section 198.006, RSMo., and in-home services provider agencies as defined in Section 660.250, RSMo., in the manner established by Section 120.170.
Except as provided in Subsection (B) of this Section, the City of Weldon Spring Police Department, if it maintains a daily log or record that lists suspected crimes, accidents or complaints, shall make available the following information for inspection and copying by the public:
The Police Department, having custody of an accident report or incident report as defined in Section 120.140, shall not release for sixty (60) days after the date of the accident or incident the report containing the factual circumstances or general description of any injuries as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of Subdivision (3) of Subsection (A) of this Section to a person that is not an interested party. For the purposes of this Subsection, an "interested party" is any law enforcement agency, any person who was involved in the accident or incident, the Street Department of the jurisdiction involved, the owner of any vehicle involved in the accident or incident, the insurance company, physician or family member of any person involved in the accident or incident, or any attorney, or any member of the news media.