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Policy 622
WHEREAS, the Northcentral Technical College District is a “Municipality” (hereafter “the College”) created and established pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes, and
WHEREAS, the Northcentral Technical College District is subject to the requirements of the Wisconsin Public Records and Property Law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.21 - 19.39), and
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of the Northcentral Technical College District believes that it is in the best interest of the Northcentral Technical College District, its employees, and the general public to provide the greatest possible access to information regarding the affairs of government and the official records of the Northcentral Technical College District concerning its operation, including the official actions of the Northcentral Technical College District, its officers, and employees, and
WHEREAS, the Northcentral Technical College District recognizes that it is the representative of the public and that the release of information to the public is an essential function of representative government, and
WHEREAS, the Northcentral Technical College District further recognizes that an integral part of the routine duties of the officers and employees of the Northcentral Technical College District should be the responsibility to provide access to information concerning the affairs and records of the Northcentral Technical College District,
NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved that the following policies relating to the release, inspection and reproduction of public records and property are hereby enacted:
1. DESIGNATION OF PUBLIC RECORDS. The Northcentral Technical College District hereby recognizes and designates all of its records as defined by Wis. Stat. § 19.32(2), as public records and documents subject to release, inspection, and reproduction as required by law.
2. DESIGNATION OF THE OFFICIAL LEGAL CUSTODIAN OF THE RECORDS. The Northcentral Technical College District hereby designates the position of Vice President of Human Resources as the official legal custodian of the public records of the College. It shall be the responsibility of the individuals in those positions to execute all duties and responsibilities of the College pursuant to the Wisconsin Public Records and Property Law.
As the official legal custodian of the records of the College, the individual in this position shall be responsible to the President for the timely response to any request for access to the public records of the College. The custodian shall be solely responsible for the release of the public records of the College, the conditions under which records may be inspected, and the collection of costs for the location or reproduction of such records.
It is directed that all employees of the College be informed in writing that the Vice President of Human Resources has been designated the official legal custodian of the public records of the College. The employees shall further be informed of the duties of the official legal custodian and shall also be made aware of the other requirements and provisions of this Resolution. (See Appendix A for notice.)
3. POWERS OF THE OFFICIAL LEGAL CUSTODIAN OF THE RECORDS. All requests for the release, inspection, and/or reproduction of the public records of the College shall be directed or referred to the official legal custodian.
The official legal custodian is hereby vested with full legal power to make all necessary decisions relative to the release, inspection, and reproduction of public records and is further granted all authority necessary to carry out all duties and responsibilities required by either the Wisconsin Public Records and Property Law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 - 19.39) or this Resolution.
4. PROCEDURE FOR THE RELEASE, INSPECTION AND REPRODUCTION OF RECORDS AND PROPERTY. The College hereby adopts the Notice attached as Appendix B as the official procedure of the College in responding to requests for the release, inspection, or reproduction of the records and property of the College.
This Notice is intended to provide all necessary information that might be required by a member of the public in order to obtain access to the records and property of the College. Any questions in regard to this Notice shall be directed to the official legal custodian of the records.
This Notice may be modified from time to time by official action of the governing body, but absent such modification, the decisions of the official legal custodian of the records of the College shall be in conformity with its provisions.
Copies of the Notice hereby adopted shall be available on the college web site. A copy of the Notice shall be made available to any member of the public upon a request for inspection or reproduction.
5. ADOPTION OF FEE SCHEDULE REGARDING THE COSTS FOR THE LOCATION AND/OR REPRODUCTION OF THE RECORDS AND PROPERTY. The College hereby adopts the Fee Schedule attached as Appendix C to cover the actual costs exceeding $50.00 relating to the location and reproduction of any of the records of the College. It is intended that this fee schedule shall cover the payment of the actual, necessary, and direct costs incurred in locating a document, or in providing any person with a reproduction of any of the records of the College. This schedule shall be reviewed annually by the College and adjusted as the need arises.
6. RECORD PRESERVATION. The records of the College shall be retained and preserved by the official legal custodian as required by all applicable laws and no records shall be destroyed without the prior written approval of the custodian.
No record of the College shall be destroyed after the receipt of a request for such record until after the request is granted, or until any dispute concerning the request has been completely and finally resolved.
7. INDEMNIFICATION OF THE OFFICIAL LEGAL CUSTODIAN OF THE RECORDS. Any costs or fees incurred by the official legal
custodian of the records of the College shall be directly reimbursed by the
College to the custodian and shall not be treated as the personal liability of
the custodian.
8. NTC is obligated to give notice to the person named in the record and
allow time for the person to seek judicial review before allowing access to
the record.
A. The records that are subject to this right of judicial review are:
- A record containing information relating to an employee that is the result of an investigation into a disciplinary matter involving the employee or a possible employment-related violation by the employee of a statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, or policy of the employee’s employer;
- A record obtained by the municipality through a subpoena or a search warrant; and
- A record prepared by an employer other than the municipality if the record contains information relating to the employee unless the employee authorizes the municipality to provide access to that information.
B. NTC is obligated to give notice to the “record subject” “to whom the record pertains” and not to all persons named in the record. While the record may pertain to more than one individual, the mere fact that the record contains personally identifiable information about the individual such as his or her name does not mean that individual is entitled to be notified that the record is proposed to be released.
- Notice must be issued within three days of the decision to release
- Notice must be issued by certified mail or personal service
- Notice must “briefly describe” the record
- Notice must describe challenge process
- Employee may give notice of intent to seek court order within five days of receipt of notice
- Employee may commence action on court within 10 days of receipt of notice
- If no action is commenced within 12 days of sending the notice, then release is required
- If action is commenced, then release is prohibited until court action is complete
- Custodian is responsible to notify requester of results of court action if requester does not intervene
Introduced at a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Northcentral Technical College District, this 28th day of January, 2004.
Donna Seidel, Secretary
Northcentral Technical College
Board of Trustees
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