The Village updates public records policy to reflect new state rules, clarifies custodian roles

City staff presented revisions to The Village’s public records policy and told council members the update reflects changes the state legislature made this year.

Staff said the last update to the town's records policy was in September 2018 and the proposed revision identifies who the records custodians are and allows designated supervisors to name deputy records custodians. A staff presenter said, "So our last update was in September 2018. I'd like to it's another 2 years. We also had some big changes to the book of records act from the state legislature this year protecting cities and towns and entities." (Staff member, first referenced in the meeting.)

The draft policy, as described in the presentation, clarifies administrative procedures for handling requests, including the use of a request form, prepayment when an estimate exceeds $75 and timelines for staff responses. Staff said the city would provide clarifying written notice if a request could not be completed within 30 calendar days and that staff would respond to requests for clarification within 15 days.

Council members asked procedural questions during the presentation about liability if the city followed an older two-year policy and whether the new language would expose the city to claims; staff answered those procedural questions in the discussion but did not report a formal vote during the meeting.

The council packet included examples of records the policy would cover, such as departmental sales tax reports. The draft policy was described as an administrative update to align local procedures with recent state statutory changes; staff recommended adopting the revised language so custodial responsibilities and response deadlines are explicit.