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Ione adopts policy to record closed sessions with council access protocol
Summary
Council adopted a new policy to record closed-session audio/video to a secured cloud system; recordings will be custodied by the police chief, available for authorized review by appointment, and retained under a two-year schedule.
The Ione City Council on March 4 adopted a policy allowing audio and video recordings of closed-session meetings using a secured system and a designated custodian.
City staff and the police chief presented a revised policy that designates the police chief as the custodian of closed-session recordings. Under the policy, recordings would be captured on a camera or body-camera-style device, uploaded to a secured, cloud-based evidence system, and accessible for review only by authorized individuals by appointment. The chief explained the system logs access and maintains chain-of-custody records for all views and downloads.
Staff described several implementation complexities: closed sessions sometimes cover multiple topics and not all council members are authorized to view all topics (for example, because of conflicts); therefore staff recommended procedures to start and stop recording for topic segregation or to restrict recording of certain segments. The city attorney noted that recordings are confidential but could be subject to disclosure if a court orders release as part of a Brown Act challenge or litigation.
Council members asked for clarifying language on who qualifies as an "other representative" who may inspect portions of closed-session recordings; the council amended the motion to instruct the city attorney to tighten that language so that only authorized persons (for example, special counsel engaged for an identified matter) could be permitted to view specific segments by council direction. The chief added the system keeps an audit trail of any viewing.
After questions and public comment, the council voted to adopt the policy as amended to clarify authorized viewing and to use a wide-angle placement so the device will capture the full meeting room. A council member moved, and the motion passed on a voice vote; the mayor said, "Ayes have it." Staff said they would add the policy to the city-council handbook and set a two-year retention schedule for closed-session recordings unless longer retention is mandated by legal process.
