College City Cemetery District

Purpose:

To establish District policy and guidelines concerning accessibility of District records.

Background:

Section 6253 of the Government Code provides that every person has a right to inspect any public record except those specifically exempted by law.

"Public record" is defined by law to include any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, or retained by the District regardless of physical form or characteristics.

A "writing" for purposes of public access may be a handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photograph, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols or any combination thereof, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored.

Policy:

Records of College City Cemetery District (District) are open to inspection at all times during normal office hours upon request. Every person has the right to inspect any District record except those records exempted by statute from public disclosure.

Procedure:

1. All requests to view or photocopy District records other than typical billing and account information shall be forwarded to the District's Office Manager for processing.

Fees:

A request for a copy of an identifiable public record, for information produced from such a record, or for a certified copy of such a record, must be accompanied by payment of the appropriate fee as determined by District staff based on cost to the District. Any fee established may be modified from time to time by District staff to reflect actual chargeable costs, and any fee schedule developed shall be made available by the District's Office Manager.

Records Not Open for Inspection:

The following records are not open for public inspection:

1. Preliminary drafts, notes or interagency or intraagency memoranda which are not retained by the District in the ordinary course of business, provided that the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
2. Records pertaining to pending litigation to which the District is a party, or to claims made pursuant to Division 3.6 (commencing with Section 810) of Title 1 of the Government Code, until such litigation or claim has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled.
3. Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
4. Geological and geophysical data, plant production data, and similar information, relating to utility systems development, or market or crop reports, which are obtained in confidence from any person.
5. Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination, examination for employment, or academic examination.
6. The contents of real estate appraisals or engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations made for or by the District relative to the acquisition of property, or to prospective public supply and construction contracts, until all of the property has been acquired or all of the contract agreement obtained.
7. Records the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to provisions of federal or state law, including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege.
8. Statements of personal worth or personal financial data required by the District acting in the capacity of a licensing agency and filed by an applicant with the District to establish his personal qualifications for the license, certificate, or permit he seeks.
9. Memoranda, correspondence, and writings submitted to the District or its Board of Directors by District's legal counsel pursuant to the attorney-client privilege.
10. The District is prohibited from allowing public access to "trade secrets." "Trade secrets" as used in this context may include, but is not limited to, any formula, plan, pattern, process, tool mechanism, compound, procedure, production data, or compilation of information which is not patented, which is known only to certain individuals within a commercial concern who are using it to fabricate, produce, or compound an article of trade or a service having commercial value and which gives its user an opportunity to obtain a business advantage over competitors who do not know or use it.
11. Records pertaining to a utility customer, except to an agent or authorized family member of the customer in question, governmental or law enforcement agencies when appropriate, or unless disclosure is specifically required by law.
12. Documents related to Vulnerability Assessment.
13. The District also possesses the discretion to claim an exemption in those instances where the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure.