VILLAGE OF NASHVILLE

                              FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) POLICY

This policy was established by the Village of Nashville to identify the procedures that Village officers and employees are to follow when processing a request in accordance with Act No. 442 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended (the "Act").

SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS

Act: The Michigan Freedom of Information Act, No. 442 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended.

FOIA: The individual, designated by the Village Council, who is responsible for accepting and   processing requests for public records as outlined in this policy and the Act, and who is responsible for approving denials of requests, or that individual's designee as provided.

Person:  An individual, corporation, organization, or other legal entity, as modified by the Act.    

Public Body: The Village of Nashville and its duly constituted departments, commissions, boards or committees.

Public Records: A writing which is prepared, owned, used in the possession of or retained by a public body in the performance of an official function from the time it is created and as otherwise defined by the Act.

Unusual Circumstances: Entails the need to search for, collect, or appropriately examine or review a voluminous amount of public records and/or the need to collect public records from numerous locations apart from the processing office.

Where not otherwise defined, the words and phrases contained in this policy shall have the meaning given to them, if any, by the Act.

SECTION 2.      RIGHT TO RECORDS

A person has the right to submit a written request for public record(s) from the Village and its departments.  The request must sufficiently describe the public record to enable the FOIA Coordinator to identify the requested public record.  A person has the right to inspect a public record, unless exempted by law or court order.  Original public records are not to be released from the Village offices where the public records are secured.  A person may request that copies of a public record be provided subject to the payment of fees outlined in Section 4.

Upon request, a person will be provided with a reasonable opportunity to examine the public records provided by the public body.  Persons with special needs should contact

the FOIA Coordinator, who is authorized to make such arrangements as are reasonably necessary to accommodate those needs.

SECTION 3.    RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE PUBLIC BODY

The FOIA Coordinator shall provide reasonable facilities and opportunities for person(s) to inspect public records.  To implement this Section, the FOIA Coordinator may prepare and submit to the Village Council for its approval rules to regulate the time and manner in which records are reviewed, to protect the records and to prevent excessive interference with the public body's normal operations.

The FOIA Coordinator shall provide a certified copy of a public record if a person requests the same in writing.

Neither the public body nor the FOIA Coordinator are obligated to create a record, list, compilation, or summary of information which does not already exist.  This exemption includes analyzing, compiling, or summarizing existing information into a new format.  All public records shall be retained per the Village's approved retention schedule.  Neither the public body nor the FOIA Coordinator are obligated to provide answers to oral or written questions.

The FOIA Coordinator shall provide copies of any public records as provided for in the Act and shall retain a copy of all written requests on file for a period of not less than one (1) year.  The FOIA Coordinator will follow the provisions of Section 4 of this policy.

SECTION 4.    PROVISIONS FOR COPYING PUBLIC RECORDS

The Village of Nashville shall adopt, by resolution, a schedule of fees for providing copies of public records.  All FOIA requests submitted pursuant to the Act shall be subject to the fees and charges adopted by the Village Council.  Postage and handling shall also be charged as applicable and shall include the exact postage, as well as the cost for envelopes or other containers used for mailing copies of the public records requested.

The FOIA Coordinator may charge a fee for the labor involved with searching for, examining, and reviewing a public record as permitted by the Act.  In determining whether to charge a fee for labor, the FOIA Coordinator shall consider the anticipated cost to the Village, the need for a devoted staff member to adequately respond to the particular request, and similar factors.  Where anticipated labor costs would exceed $10.00, such costs shall be charged to the person requesting the public record.  Where total fees and charges are reasonably anticipated to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00), the public body is further authorized to require that fifty percent of the estimated fees and charges be paid in advance of the performance of the work as authorized by the Act.  The balance must be paid prior to the release of the public record copies.  The FOIA Coordinator shall not charge additional fees for certification of any copies.  Charges for labor costs shall be determined by using the wages of the lowest paid, full-time public body employee capable of retrieving the records requested.

The Village of Nashville has limited in-house capabilities for copying photographs, audio or video tapes, microforms, maps or plans.  If a person requests that copies be made of these or large documents which must be copied off-site, the FOIA Coordinator will determine and assess those costs.  If an employee of the public body is required to deliver and/or pick up the public records and/or copies of public records, the labor hours spent and applicable mileage (at Village rates) will also be applied to the charges to the person(s) requesting the public records.

SECTION 5. PROCEDURES OF THE PUBLIC BODY IN PROCESSING A FOIA REQUEST

After a person has made a written request for a public record in accordance with the Act, the FOIA Coordinator shall respond within five (5) business days in one of four ways:

1)  Grant the request.

If the request indicates that the person desires to inspect the public records, the FOIA Coordinator will contact the person to arrange for inspection at a reasonable time.

If the request indicates that the person wishes to have copies of a public record prepared and/or mailed, the FOIA Coordinator may first mail a FOIA worksheet to the person and request a fifty percent payment of the anticipated charges and fees.

Upon receiving the person's executed FOIA worksheet, where required , along with any payment due, the FOIA Coordinator will respond by providing those public records.

2)  Issue a written notice denying the request.  The notice of denial shall include:

A. an explanation as to why the requested public record is exempt from disclosure in accordance with the Act, or

B. an explanation that the requested public record does not exist under the name given by the person or another name reasonably known to the public body, or

C. an explanation or general description of information which had to be separated or deleted from the public record pursuant to section 6 of this policy.

In addition to the explanations noted above, the denial shall also include an explanation of the person's right to appeal the denial to the Village Council and/or seek judicial review in accordance with the Act.

3)  Grant the request in part, and issue a written notice denying the request in part.  In the latter instance, the public records exempted from disclosure should be treated as in (2) above.

4)  Issue a written notice extending the time in which to respond to the request by ten (10) business days.

Where a written request is received which does not sufficiently describe the public records requested so as to enable the FOIA Coordinator to locate the same, the FOIA Coordinator may send notice to the person requesting a clarification of the request.  Such notice, if sent, shall not be interpreted as a denial of the request for purposes of the Act or this policy.

SECTION 6.    PROCEDURES FOR SEPARATION OF RECORDS

If a request is made for an existing public record that includes information which is exempt from disclosure under the Act and information which is not exempt, the FOIA Coordinator must separate the material and make the non exempt material available for examination and/or copying.  Additionally, the FOIA Coordinator is directed to generally describe the material which had to be separated, unless doing so would reveal the contents of the exempt information and thus defeat the purpose of the exemption.  The labor cost associated with such procedures shall be treated in accordance with Section 4.

SECTION 7.    DESIGNATION OF FOIA COORDINATOR

The Village Clerk is hereby designated to be the Village's FOIA Coordinator.  In addition, the following officers shall be authorized to act as FOIA Coordinator designees:  the Deputy Village Clerk, the Director of Public Works, and the Police Chief.  The FOIA Coordinator and designees shall be responsible to accept and process requests for  public records and approve denials in accordance with Section 5 (4) and (5) of the Act.

SECTION 8.    APPEALS

In accordance with the Act, where a person's request for a public record is denied, in whole or in part, the person shall be entitled to file a written appeal of the decision in accordance with the following process:

1.  The person shall be advised by the FOIA Coordinator of the right to file a written appeal to the Village Council.

2.  Where a written appeal is received by the Village in accordance with the Act, the Village Council shall either: (a) place the appeal on the agenda for the next regularly scheduled meeting where unusual circumstances are found to exist; or (b) consider and decide the appeal at the meeting at which it was received; or (c) direct that a special meeting to consider the appeal be scheduled.  In its consideration of any appeal, the Village Council shall review the materials submitted by the appellant and any written comments or reports received from the FOIA Coordinator.  The Village Council may also review such additional information as it deems necessary in order to make its determination; provided, however, that if the information's disclosure would likely result in prejudice to the Village (e.g., compromising an ongoing investigation), then the

information shall first be reviewed by the FOIA Coordinator and summarized before dissemination to the Village Council.  It shall be the duty of the FIOA Coordinator to review all information, records, etc., prior to release to the Village Council.

3.  The Village Council may deliberate and take one of the following actions in response to the filing of an appeal:

            a)  Reverse the disclosure denial.

            b)  Issue a written notice to the requesting person affirming the disclosure denial.

c)  Reverse the disclosure denial in part and issue a written notice to the requesting person affirming the denial part.