Access to Fire District Records and Record Keeping

• Pages: 601-634
• Author: Raymond S. Diraddo

FIRE DISTRICT

RECORDS

CHAPTER 11

ACCESS TO

FIRE DISTRICT RECORDS

AND RECORD KEEPING

FIRE DISTRICT

RECORDS

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FIRE DISTRICT

RECORDS

11-3 Access to Fire District Records and Record Keeping §11:20

§11:10 PUBLIC ACCESS TO RECORDS

AND RECORD RETENTION

§11:10.1 FOIL Public Policy

Fire districts have a responsibility regarding public

access to records and record retention. The public policy

behind both these obligations is the people’s right to

know the process of government decision-making and

the documents and statistics leading to those determina-

tions. Accordingly, re districts are required to furnish

to the public the information and records required by

the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

§11 :10.2 Local Government Records Law

Public records are essential to the administration

of a re district. Public records contain information

that allows re district programs to function, provides

ocials with a basis for making decisions, and ensures

continuity with past operations. Public records docu-

ment the legal responsibility of re districts, protect the

rights of citizens, and provide citizens with a means

of monitoring re district programs and measuring the

performance of public ocials. Fire district records also

reect the historical development of the government

and the community the re district serves. Such records

need to be systematically managed to ensure ready

access to vital information and to promote the ecient

and economical operation of government. Article 57A

Art and Cultural Aairs Law.

Under the local government records law, the re

district secretary is the re district Records Management

Ocer. The Records Management Ocer oversees

the records management program and coordinates its

development. It is the responsibility of the board of

re commissioners to maintain and retain the re dis-

trict records for as long as those records are needed for

ocial re district business. It is their responsibility to

protect these records and to cooperate with the Records

Management Ocer as well as to pass on active ocial

records to their successors in oce.

The re district treasurer is the scal ocer of the

re district and shall receive and have custody of the

funds of the district and shall disburse these funds on

order of the board of re commissioners.

The board of re commissioners has exclusive

management and control of the property of the re

district and, as such, has the responsibility to see that

proper and complete records are kept and maintained

and that the funds of the re district are properly held

and disbursed.

§11:20 FREEDOM OF

INFORMATION LAW

The Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Public

Ocers Law, Article 6, is applicable to re districts.

FOIL requires that re districts publish rules setting forth

the means by which re district records shall be available

for public inspection and copying. The committee on

Open Government provides information concerning the

procedures by which records may be obtained from a

re district. Fire districts are encouraged to develop their

own procedures to obtain access to its records; however,

the re district policy cannot be more restrictive than

the regulations promulgated by the Committee on Open

Government. 21 NYCRR 1401–1409.

§11:20.1 FOIL Policy and Rules

FOIL requires that the re district shall make and

publish rules and regulations pertaining to the avail-

ability, location and nature of such records. Although

the statute does not indicate how the rules shall be pub-

lished, it is recommended that they be published once

as a legal notice in the ocial paper of the re district.

See Form 11-1, Policy for Public Access to Records.

§11:20.2 Subject Matter List

The board of re commissioners must maintain and

make available for public inspection and copy, an index rea-

sonably detailed by subject matter, of any records, which

shall be produced, led or rst kept or promulgated after

September 1, 1974. This list may also provide information as

to re district records held on or before September 1, 1974.

The re district shall maintain this current list, by

subject matter, of all records in its possession, whether

or not records are available for public disclosure under

the Freedom of Information Law.

The subject matter list shall be suciently detailed

to permit identication of the category of the record

sought and should be updated annually, and the date of

the most recent update shall appear on the rst page of

the subject matter list. 21 NYCRR 1401.6. The records

a re district should retain include:

• Fire District Minutes

• Fire District Fiscal Records

• Unpaid Checks

• Bank Resolutions

• Annual Audits

• Record of Fire Insurance Proceeds

• State Audits

• Public Notice of Comptroller Examination

• Written Response to Comptroller Examination

• List of Employees

• Documents That Are Accessible Under FOIL