; Processing of public records requests – General

; Processing of public records requests – General. A. Providing access. The Ethics Commission acknowledges that “providing access to public records is a duty” and that “any person shall have the right to inspect, copy or mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of any public record” in accordance with these policies. Sections 25-61-1 and 25-61-5. The public records officer or designee will process requests in the order allowing the most requests to be processed in the most efficient manner. B. Acknowledging receipt of request. Within five business days of receipt of the request, the public records officer will do one or more of the following: (1) Make the records available for inspection or copying; (2) If copies are requested and payment of a deposit for the copies, if any, is made or terms of payment are agreed upon, send the copies to the requestor; (3) Provide a reasonable estimate of when records will be available; or (4) If the request is unclear or does not sufficiently identify the requested records, request clarification from the requestor. (Such clarification may be requested and provided by telephone. The public records officer or designee may revise the estimate of when records will be available); or (5) Deny the request. C. Consequences of failure to respond. If the Ethics Commission does not respond in writing within five business days of receipt of the request for disclosure, the requestor should consider contacting the public records officer to determine the reason for the failure to respond. D. Protecting rights of others. In the event that the requested records contain information that may affect rights of others and may be exempt from disclosure, the public records officer may, prior to providing the records, give notice to such others whose rights may be affected by the disclosure. Such notice should be given so as to make it possible for those other persons to contact the requestor and ask him or her to revise the request, or, if necessary, seek an order from a court to prevent or limit the disclosure. The notice to the affected persons will include a copy of the request. E. Records exempt from disclosure. Some records are exempt from disclosure, in whole or in part. If the Ethics Commission believes that a record is exempt from disclosure and should be withheld, the public records officer will state the specific exemption and provide a brief explanation of why the record or a portion of the record is being withheld. If only a portion of a record is exempt from disclosure, but the remainder is not exempt, the public records officer will redact the exempt portions, provide the nonexempt portions, and indicate to the requestor why portions of the record are being redacted.