Source: http://www.ct.gov/foi/cwp/view.asp?a=4163&Q=489120
Timestamp: 2018-12-19 11:06:00
Document Index: 747709393

Matched Legal Cases: ['§14', '§25', '§2', '§6', '§57', '§2', '§1', '§69', '§1', '§2', '§1', '§1', '§2', '§4', '§1', '§39', '§2', '§1', '§1', '§2', '§4', '§1', '§4', '§10', '§6', '§11', '§1', '§1']

FOI: Section 1-206. (Formerly Sec. 1-21i) - Denial of access to public records or meetings. Appeals. Notice. Orders. Civil penalty. Service of process upon commission. Frivolous appeals.
Section 1-206. (Formerly Sec. 1-21i) - Denial of access to public records or meetings. Appeals. Notice. Orders. Civil penalty. Service of process upon commission. Frivolous appeals. (a) Any denial of the right to inspect or copy records provided for under section 1-210 shall be made to the person requesting such right by the public agency official who has custody or control of the public record, in writing, within four business days of such request, except when the request is determined to be subject to subsections (b) and (c) of section 1-214, in which case such denial shall be made, in writing, within ten business days of such request. Failure to comply with a request to so inspect or copy such public record within the applicable number of business days shall be deemed to be a denial.
(3) In making the findings and determination under subdivision (2) of this subsection the commission shall consider the nature of any injustice or abuse of administrative process, including but not limited to: (A) The nature, content, language or subject matter of the request or the appeal, including, among other factors, whether the request or appeal is repetitious or cumulative; (B) the nature, content, language or subject matter of prior or contemporaneous requests or appeals by the person making the request or taking the appeal; (C) the nature, content, language or subject matter of other verbal and written communications to any agency or any official of any agency from the person making the request or taking the appeal; (D) any history of nonappearance at commission proceedings or disruption of the commission's administrative process, including, but not limited to, delaying commission proceedings; and (E) the refusal to participate in settlement conferences conducted by a commission ombudsman in accordance with the commission's regulations.
(5) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection, a public agency may petition
the commission for relief from a requester that the public agency alleges is a vexatious requester. Such petition shall be sworn under penalty of false statement, as provided in section 53a-157b, and shall detail the conduct which the agency alleges demonstrates a vexatious history of requests, including, but not limited to: (A) The number of requests filed and the total number of pending requests; (B) the scope of the requests; (C) the nature, content, language or subject matter of the requests; (D) the nature, content, language or subject matter of other oral and written communications to the agency from the requester; and (E) a pattern of conduct that amounts to an abuse of the right to access information under the Freedom of Information Act or an interference with the operation of the agency. Upon receipt of such petition, the executive director of the commission shall review the petition and determine whether it warrants a hearing. If the executive director determines that a hearing is not warranted, the executive director shall recommend that the commission deny the petition without a hearing. The commission shall vote at its next regular meeting after such recommendation to accept or reject such recommendation and, after such meeting, shall issue a written explanation of the reasons for such acceptance or rejection. If the executive director determines that a hearing is warranted, the commission shall serve upon all parties, by certified or registered mail, a copy of such petition together with any other notice or order of the commission. The commission shall, after due notice to the parties, hear and either grant or deny the petition within one year after its filing. Upon a grant of such petition, the commission may provide appropriate relief commensurate with the vexatious conduct, including, but not limited to, an order that the agency need not comply with future requests from the vexatious requester for a specified period of time, but not to exceed one year. Any party aggrieved by the commission's granting of such petition may apply to the superior court for the judicial district of New Britain, within fifteen days of the commission meeting at which such petition was granted, for an order reversing the commission's decision.
(e) Within sixty days after the filing of a notice of appeal alleging violation of any right conferred by the Freedom of Information Act concerning records of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection relating to the state's hazardous waste program under sections 22a-448 to 22a-454, inclusive, the Freedom of Information Commission shall, after notice to the parties, hear and decide the appeal. Failure by the commission to hear and decide the appeal within such sixty-day period shall constitute a final decision denying such appeal for purposes of this section and section 4-183. On appeal, the court may, in addition to any other powers conferred by law, order the disclosure of any such records withheld in violation of the Freedom of Information Act and may assess against the state reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred in an appeal in which the complainant has prevailed against the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. (P.A. 75-342, §14; P.A. 76-435, §25; P.A. 77-403; P.A. 77-603, §2; P.A. 77-609, §6; P.A. 78-331, §57; P.A. 81-431, §2; P.A. 83-129, §1; P.A. 83-587, §69; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-31, §1; P.A. 84-112, §2; P.A. 84-136; P.A. 84-311, §1; P.A. 86-408, §1; P.A. 87-285, §2; P.A. 87-526, §4; P.A. 88-230, §1; P.A. 88-317, §39; P.A. 88-353, §2; P.A. 90-98, §1; P.A. 90-307, §1; P.A. 92-207, §2; P.A. 93-142, §§4, 7; P.A. 93-191, §1; P.A. 95-220, §§4-6; P.A. 97-47, §§10-12; P.A. 00-136, §6; P.A. 07-202, §11; P.A.11-80, §1; P.A.17-86; P.A. 18-95, §1.)
Content Last Modified on 11/5/2018 12:41:16 PM