| 610.010.
Definitions
610.011. Liberal construction
of law to be public policy
610.015. Votes, how taken
610.020. Notice of meetings -- content
-- time -- emergency meetings --
subunits -- minutes of meetings
610.021. Closed meetings, records, and
votes
610.022. Closed meetings, procedure and
limitation -- public records
presumed open unless exempt
610.023. Records of governmental
bodies to be in care of custodian, duties -- records may
be copied but not removed, exception, procedure --
denial of access, procedure
610.024. Exempt and nonexempt
data in same record -- design of records
-- description of exempt matter
610.025. Repealed by L.1987,
S.B. No. 2, § A
610.026. Fees for copying public records,
limitations -- fee money
remitted to whom -- tax, license or fee as used in Missouri
Constitution Article X section
22 not to include copying fees
610.027. Violations -- remedies, procedure,
penalty -- validity of actions
by governing bodies in violation -- governmental bodies
may seek interpretation of
law, attorney general to provide
610.028. Legal defense of members of
governmental bodies, when--written policy on release of
information required--persons reporting violations exempt
from liability and discipline
610.029. Electronic services
610.030. Injunctive relief authorized
610.032. Closed records and information
-- disclosure of information -- executive agency
610.010. Definitions
As used in sections 610.010 to 610.030 and sections 610.100
to 610.150, unless the context otherwise indicates, the
following terms mean:
(1) "Closed meeting", "closed record",
or "closed vote", any meeting, record or vote
closed to the public;
(2) "Copying", if requested by a member of the
public, copies provided as detailed in section 610.026,
if duplication equipment is available;
(3) "Public business", all matters which relate
in any way to the performance of the public governmental
body's functions or the conduct of its business;
(4) "Public governmental body", any legislative,
administrative or governmental entity created by the constitution
or statutes of this state, by order or ordinance of any
political subdivision or district, judicial entities when
operating in an administrative capacity, or by executive
order, including:
(a) Any body, agency, board, bureau, council, commission,
committee, board of regents or board of curators or
any other governing body of any institution of higher
education, including a community college, which is supported
in whole or in part from state funds;
(b) Any advisory committee or commission appointed
by the governor by executive order;
(c) Any department or division of the state, of any
political subdivision of the state, of any county or
of any municipal government, school district or special
purpose district including but not limited to sewer
districts, water districts, and other subdistricts of
any political subdivision;
(d) Any other legislative or administrative governmental
deliberative body under the direction of three or more
elected or appointed members having rulemaking or quasi-judicial
power;
(e) Any committee appointed by or at the direction
of any of the entities and which is authorized to report
to any of the above named entities, any advisory committee
appointed by or at the direction of any of the named
entities for the specific purpose of recommending, directly
to the public governmental body's governing board or
its chief administrative officer, policy or policy revisions
or expenditures of public funds including, but not limited
to, entities created to advise bi-state taxing districts
regarding the expenditure of public funds, or any policy
advisory body, policy advisory committee or policy advisory
group appointed by a president, chancellor or chief
executive officer of any college or university system
or individual institution at the direction of the governing
body of such institution which is supported in whole
or in part with state funds for the specific purpose
of recommending directly to the public governmental
body's governing board or the president, chancellor
or chief executive officer policy, policy revisions
or expenditures of public funds provided, however, the
staff of the college or university president, chancellor
or chief executive officer shall not constitute such
a policy advisory committee. The custodian of the records
of any public governmental body shall maintain a list
of the policy advisory committees described in this
subdivision; and
(f) Any quasi-public governmental body. The term "quasi-public
governmental body" means any person, corporation
or partnership organized or authorized to do business
in this state pursuant to the provisions of chapter
352, 353, or 355, RSMo, or unincorporated association
which either:
a. Has as its primary purpose to enter into contracts
with public governmental bodies, or to engage primarily
in activities carried out pursuant to an agreement
or agreements with public governmental bodies; or
b. Performs a public function, as evidenced by
a statutorily based capacity to confer or otherwise
advance, through approval, recommendation or other
means, the allocation or issuance of tax credits,
tax abatement, public debt, tax exempt debt, rights
of eminent domain, or the contracting of leaseback
agreements on structures whose annualized payments
commit public tax revenues; or any association that
directly accepts the appropriation of money from
a public governmental body, but only to the extent
that a meeting, record, or vote relates to such
appropriation;
(5) "Public meeting", any meeting of a public
governmental body subject to sections 610.010 to 610.030
at which any public business is discussed, decided, or public
policy formulated, whether corporeal or by means of communication
equipment. The term "public meeting" shall not
include an informal gathering of members of a public governmental
body for ministerial or social purposes when there is no
intent to avoid the purposes of this chapter, but the term
shall include a public vote of all or a majority of the
members of a public governmental body, by electronic communication
or any other means, conducted in lieu of holding a public
meeting with the members of the public governmental body
gathered at one location in order to conduct public business;
(6) "Public record", any record, whether written
or electronically stored, retained by or of any public governmental
body including any report, survey, memorandum, or other
document or study prepared and presented to the public governmental
body by a consultant or other professional service paid
for in whole or in part by public funds; provided, however,
that personally identifiable student records maintained
by public educational institutions shall be open for inspection
by the parents, guardian or other custodian of students
under the age of eighteen years and by the parents, guardian
or other custodian and the student if the student is over
the age of eighteen years. The term "public record"
shall not include any internal memorandum or letter received
or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public governmental
body consisting of advice, opinions and recommendations
in connection with the deliberative decision-making process
of said body, unless such records are retained by the public
governmental body or presented at a public meeting;
(7) "Public vote", any vote cast at any public
meeting of any public governmental body.
610.011. Liberal construction of law to be public
policy
1. It is the public policy of this state that meetings,
records, votes, actions, and deliberations of public governmental
bodies be open to the public unless otherwise provided by
law. Sections 610.010 to 610.028 shall be liberally construed
and their exceptions strictly construed to promote this
public policy.
2. Except as otherwise provided by law, all public meetings
of public governmental bodies shall be open to the public
as set forth in section 610.020, all public records of public
governmental bodies shall be open to the public for inspection
and copying as set forth in sections 610.023 to 610.026,
and all public votes of public governmental bodies shall
be recorded as set forth in section 610.015.
610.015. Votes, how taken
Except as provided in section 610.021, rules authorized
pursuant to article III of the Missouri constitution and
as otherwise provided by law, all votes shall be recorded,
and if a roll call is taken, as to attribute each "yea"
and "nay" vote, or abstinence if not voting, to
the name of the individual member of the public governmental
body. Any votes taken during a closed meeting shall be taken
by roll call. All public meetings shall be open to the public
and public votes and public records shall be open to the
public for inspection and duplication.
610.020. Notice of meetings
-- content -- time -- emergency meetings -- subunits --
minutes of meetings
1. All public governmental bodies shall give notice of
the time, date, and place of each meeting, and its tentative
agenda, in a manner reasonably calculated to advise the
public of the matters to be considered. Reasonable notice
shall include making available copies of the notice to any
representative of the news media who requests notice of
meetings of a particular public governmental body concurrent
with the notice being made available to the members of the
particular governmental body and posting the notice on a
bulletin board or other prominent place which is easily
accessible to the public and clearly designated for that
purpose at the principal office of the body holding the
meeting, or if no such office exists, at the building in
which the meeting is to be held.
2. Notice conforming with all of the requirements of subsection
1 of this section shall be given at least twenty-four hours,
exclusive of weekends and holidays when the facility is
closed, prior to the commencement of any meeting of a governmental
body unless for good cause such notice is impossible or
impractical, in which case as much notice as is reasonably
possible shall be given. Each meeting shall be held at a
place reasonably accessible to the public and of sufficient
size to accommodate the anticipated attendance by members
of the public, and at a time reasonably convenient to the
public, unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible
or impractical. At any public meeting conducted by telephone
or other electronic means, the public shall be allowed to
observe and attend the public meeting at a designated location
identified in the notice of the meeting. Every reasonable
effort shall be made to grant special access to the meeting
to handicapped or disabled individuals.
3. When it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than
twenty-four hours' notice, or at a place that is not reasonably
accessible to the public, or at a time that is not reasonably
convenient to the public, the nature of the good cause justifying
that departure from the normal requirements shall be stated
in the minutes.
4. A formally constituted subunit of a parent governmental
body may conduct a meeting without notice as required by
this section during a lawful meeting of the parent governmental
body, a recess in that meeting, or immediately following
that meeting, if the meeting of the subunit is publicly
announced at the parent meeting and the subject of the meeting
reasonably coincides with the subjects discussed or acted
upon by the parent governmental body.
5. If another provision of law requires a manner of giving
specific notice of a meeting, hearing or an intent to take
action by a governmental body, compliance with that section
shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements
of this section.
6. A journal or minutes of open meetings shall be taken
and retained by the public governmental body, including,
but not limited to, a record of any votes taken at such
meeting. The minutes shall include the date, time, place,
members present, members absent and a record of any votes
taken. When a roll call vote is taken, the minutes shall
attribute each "yea" and "nay" vote
or abstinence if not voting to the name of the individual
member of the public governmental body.
610.021. Closed meetings,
records, and votes
Except to the extent disclosure is otherwise required by
law, a public governmental body is authorized to close meetings,
records and votes, to the extent they relate to the following:
(1) Legal actions, causes of action or litigation involving
a public governmental body and any confidential or privileged
communications between a public governmental body or its
representatives and its attorneys. However, any minutes,
vote or settlement agreement relating to legal actions,
causes of action or litigation involving a public governmental
body or any agent or entity representing its interests or
acting on its behalf or with its authority, including any
insurance company acting on behalf of a public government
body as its insured, shall be made public upon final disposition
of the matter voted upon or upon the signing by the parties
of the settlement agreement, unless, prior to final disposition,
the settlement agreement is ordered closed by a court after
a written finding that the adverse impact to a plaintiff
or plaintiffs to the action clearly outweighs the public
policy considerations of section 610.011, however, the amount
of any moneys paid by, or on behalf of, the public governmental
body shall be disclosed; provided, however, in matters involving
the exercise of the power of eminent domain, the vote shall
be announced or become public immediately following the
action on the motion to authorize institution of such a
legal action. Legal work product shall be considered a closed
record;
(2) Leasing, purchase or sale of real estate by a public
governmental body where public knowledge of the transaction
might adversely affect the legal consideration therefor.
However, any minutes, vote or public record approving a
contract relating to the leasing, purchase or sale of real
estate by a public governmental body shall be made public
within seventy-two hours after execution of the lease, purchase
or sale of the real estate;
(3) Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting of particular
employees by a public governmental body when personal information
about the employee is discussed or recorded. However, any
vote on a final decision, when taken by a public governmental
body, to hire, fire, promote or discipline an employee of
a public governmental body must be made available with a
record of how each member voted to the public within seventy-two
hours of the close of the meeting where such action occurs;
provided, however, that any employee so affected shall be
entitled to prompt notice of such decision during the seventy-two-hour
period before such decision is made available to the public.
As used in this subdivision, the term "personal information"
means information relating to the performance or merit of
individual employees;
(4) The state militia or National Guard or any part thereof;
(5) Nonjudicial mental or physical health proceedings involving
identifiable persons, including medical, psychiatric, psychological,
or alcoholism or drug dependency diagnosis or treatment;
(6) Scholastic probation, expulsion, or graduation of identifiable
individuals, including records of individual test or examination
scores; however, personally identifiable student records
maintained by public educational institutions shall be open
for inspection by the parents, guardian or other custodian
of students under the age of eighteen years and by the parents,
guardian or other custodian and the student if the student
is over the age of eighteen years;
(7) Testing and examination materials, before the test
or examination is given or, if it is to be given again,
before so given again;
(8) Welfare cases of identifiable individuals;
(9) Preparation, including any discussions or work product,
on behalf of a public governmental body or its representatives
for negotiations with employee groups;
(10) Software codes for electronic data processing and
documentation thereof;
(11) Specifications for competitive bidding, until either
the specifications are officially approved by the public
governmental body or the specifications are published for
bid;
(12) Sealed bids and related documents, until the bids
are opened; and sealed proposals and related documents or
any documents related to a negotiated contract until a contract
is executed, or all proposals are rejected;
(13) Individually identifiable personnel records, performance
ratings or records pertaining to employees or applicants
for employment, except that this exemption shall not apply
to the names, positions, salaries and lengths of service
of officers and employees of public agencies once they are
employed as such;
(14) Records which are protected from disclosure by law;
(15) Meetings and public records relating to scientific
and technological innovations in which the owner has a proprietary
interest;
(16) Records relating to municipal hotlines established
for the reporting of abuse and wrongdoing;
(17) Confidential or privileged communications between
a public governmental body and its auditor, including all
auditor work product; and
(18) In preparation for and implementation of electric
restructuring, a municipal electric utility may close that
portion of its financial records and business plans which
contains information regarding the name of the suppliers
of services to said utility and the cost of such services,
and the records and business plans concerning the municipal
electric utility's future marketing and service expansion
areas. However, this exception shall not be construed to
limit access to other records of a municipal electric utility,
including but not limited to the names and addresses of
its business and residential customers, its financial reports,
including but not limited to its budget, annual reports
and other financial statements prepared in the course of
business, and other records maintained in the course of
doing business as a municipal electric utility. This exception
shall become null and void if the state of Missouri fails
to implement by December 31, 2001, electric restructuring
through the adoption of statutes permitting the same in
this state.
610.022. Closed meetings,
procedure and limitation -- public records presumed open
unless exempt
1. Except as set forth in subsection 2 of this section,
no meeting or vote may be closed without an affirmative
public vote of the majority of a quorum of the public governmental
body. The vote of each member of the public governmental
body on the question of closing a public meeting or vote
and the specific reason for closing that public meeting
or vote by reference to a specific section of this chapter
shall be announced publicly at an open meeting of the governmental
body and entered into the minutes.
2. A public governmental body proposing to hold a closed
meeting or vote shall give notice of the time, date and
place of such closed meeting or vote and the reason for
holding it by reference to the specific exception allowed
pursuant to the provisions of section 610.021. Such notice
shall comply with the procedures set forth in section 610.020
for notice of a public meeting.
3. Any meeting or vote closed pursuant to section 610.021
shall be closed only to the extent necessary for the specific
reason announced to justify the closed meeting or vote.
Public governmental bodies shall not discuss any business
in a closed meeting, record or vote which does not directly
relate to the specific reason announced to justify the closed
meeting or vote. Public governmental bodies holding a closed
meeting must close only an existing portion of the meeting
facility necessary to house the members of the public governmental
body in the closed session, allowing members of the public
to remain to attend any subsequent open session held by
the public governmental body following the closed session.
4. Nothing in sections 610.010 to 610.028 shall be construed
as to require a public governmental body to hold a closed
meeting, record or vote to discuss or act upon any matter.
5. Public records shall be presumed to be open unless otherwise
exempt pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
610.023. Records of governmental
bodies to be in care of custodian, duties -- records may
be copied but not removed, exception, procedure -- denial
of access, procedure
1. Each public governmental body is to appoint a custodian
who is to be responsible for the maintenance of that body's
records. The identity and location of a public governmental
body's custodian is to be made available upon request.
2. Each public governmental body shall make available for
inspection and copying by the public of that body's public
records. No person shall remove original public records
from the office of a public governmental body or its custodian
without written permission of the designated custodian.
No public governmental body shall, after the effective date
of this section, grant to any person or entity, whether
by contract, license or otherwise, the exclusive right to
access and disseminate any public record unless the granting
of such right is necessary to facilitate coordination with,
or uniformity among, industry regulators having similar
authority.
3. Each request for access to a public record shall be
acted upon as soon as possible, but in no event later than
the end of the third business day following the date the
request is received by the custodian of records of a public
governmental body. If access to the public record is not
granted immediately, the custodian shall give a detailed
explanation of the cause for further delay and the place
and earliest time and date that the record will be available
for inspection. This period for document production may
exceed three days for reasonable cause.
4. If a request for access is denied, the custodian shall
provide, upon request, a written statement of the grounds
for such denial. Such statement shall cite the specific
provision of law under which access is denied and shall
be furnished to the requester no later than the end of the
third business day following the date that the request for
the statement is received.
610.024. Exempt and nonexempt
data in same record -- design of records -- description
of exempt matter
1. If a public record contains material which is not exempt
from disclosure as well as material which is exempt from
disclosure, the public governmental body shall separate
the exempt and nonexempt material and make the nonexempt
material available for examination and copying.
2. When designing a public record, a public governmental
body shall, to the extent practicable, facilitate a separation
of exempt from nonexempt information. If the separation
is readily apparent to a person requesting to inspect or
receive copies of the form, the public governmental body
shall generally describe the material exempted unless that
description would reveal the contents of the exempt information
and thus defeat the purpose of the exemption.
610.025. Repealed by L.1987,
S.B. No. 2, § A
610.026. Fees for copying
public records, limitations -- fee money remitted to whom
-- tax, license or fee as used in Missouri Constitution
Article X section 22 not to include copying fees
1. Except as otherwise provided by law, each public governmental
body shall provide access to and, upon request, furnish
copies of public records subject to the following:
(1) Fees for copying public records shall not exceed
the actual cost of document search and duplication.
Upon request, the governmental body shall certify in
writing that the actual cost of document search and
duplication is fair, reasonable and does not exceed
the actual cost incurred by the public governmental
body. Documents may be furnished without charge or at
a reduced charge when the public governmental body determines
that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public
interest because it is likely to contribute significantly
to public understanding of the operations or activities
of the public governmental body and is not primarily
in the commercial interest of the requester;
(2) Fees for providing access to public records maintained
on computer facilities, recording tapes or discs, video
tapes or films, pictures, slides, graphics, illustrations
or similar audio or visual items or devices, shall include
only the cost of copies, staff time required for making
copies and programming, if necessary, and the disk or
tape used for the duplication.
2. Payment of such copying fees may be requested prior
to the making of copies.
3. Except as otherwise provided by law, each public governmental
body of the state shall remit all moneys received by or
for it from fees charged pursuant to this section to the
director of revenue for deposit to the general revenue fund
of the state.
4. Except as otherwise provided by law, each public governmental
body of a political subdivision of the state shall remit
all moneys received by it or for it from fees charged pursuant
to sections 610.010 to 610.028 to the appropriate fiscal
officer of such political subdivision for deposit to the
governmental body's accounts.
5. The term "tax, license or fees" as used in
section 22 of article X of the Constitution of the State
of Missouri does not include copying charges and related
fees that do not exceed the level necessary to pay or to
continue to pay the costs for providing a service, program,
or activity which was in existence on November 4, 1980,
or which was approved by a vote of the people subsequent
to November 4, 1980.
610.027. Violations -- remedies,
procedure, penalty -- validity of actions by governing bodies
in violation -- governmental bodies may seek interpretation
of law, attorney general to provide
1. The remedies provided by this section against public
governmental bodies shall be in addition to those provided
by any other provision of law. Any aggrieved person, taxpayer
to, or citizen of, this state, or the attorney general or
prosecuting attorney, may seek judicial enforcement of the
requirements of sections 610.010 to 610.026. Suits to enforce
sections 610.010 to 610.026 shall be brought in the circuit
court for the county in which the public governmental body
has its principal place of business.
2. Once a party seeking judicial enforcement of sections
610.010 to 610.026 demonstrates to the court that the body
in question is subject to the requirements of sections 610.010
to 610.026 and has held a closed meeting, record or vote,
the burden of persuasion shall be on the body and its members
to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of sections
610.010 to 610.026.
3. Upon a finding by a preponderance of the evidence that
a public governmental body or a member of a public governmental
body has purposely violated sections 610.010 to 610.027,
the public governmental body or the member shall be subject
to a civil fine in the amount of not more than five hundred
dollars and the court may order the payment by such body
or member of all costs and reasonable attorney fees to any
party successfully establishing a violation of sections
610.010 to 610.026.
4. Upon a finding by a preponderance of the evidence that
a public governmental body has violated any provision of
sections 610.010 to 610.026, a court shall void any action
taken in violation of sections 610.010 to 610.026, if the
court finds under the facts of the particular case that
the public interest in the enforcement of the policy of
sections 610.010 to 610.026 outweighs the public interest
in sustaining the validity of the action taken in the closed
meeting, record or vote. Suit for enforcement must be brought
within one year from which the violation is ascertainable
and in no event shall it be brought later than two years
after the violation. This subsection shall not apply to
an action taken regarding the issuance of bonds or other
evidence of indebtedness of a public governmental body if
a public hearing, election or public sale has been held
regarding the bonds or evidence of indebtedness.
5. A public governmental body which is in doubt about the
legality of closing a particular meeting, record or vote
may bring suit at the expense of that public governmental
body in the circuit court of the county of the public governmental
body's principal place of business to ascertain the propriety
of any such action, or seek a formal opinion of the attorney
general or an attorney for the governmental body.
610.028. Legal defense of
members of governmental bodies, when--written policy on
release of information required--persons reporting violations
exempt from liability and discipline
1. Any public governmental body may provide for the legal
defense of any member charged with a violation of sections
610.010 to 610.030.
2. Each public governmental body shall provide a reasonable
written policy in compliance with sections 610.010 to 610.030,
open to public inspection, regarding the release of information
on any meeting, record or vote and any member or employee
of the public governmental body who complies with the written
policy is not guilty of a violation of the provisions of
sections 610.010 to 610.030 or subject to civil liability
for any act arising out of his adherence to the written
policy of the agency.
3. No person who in good faith reports a violation of the
provisions of sections 610.010 to 610.030 is civilly liable
for making such report, nor, if such person is an officer
or employee of a public governmental body, may such person
be demoted, fired, suspended or otherwise disciplined for
making such report.
610.029. Electronic services
1. A public governmental body keeping its records in an
electronic format is strongly encouraged to provide access
to its public records to members of the public in an electronic
format. A public governmental body is strongly encouraged
to make information available in usable electronic formats
to the greatest extent feasible. The activities authorized
pursuant to this section may not take priority over the
primary responsibilities of a public governmental body.
For purposes of this section the term "electronic services"
means on-line access or access via other electronic means
to an electronic file or data base.
2. Public governmental bodies shall include in a contract
for electronic services provisions that:
(1) Protect the security and integrity of the information
system of the public governmental body and of information
systems that are shared by public governmental bodies;
and
(2) Limit the liability of the public governmental
body providing the services.
3. Each public governmental body may consult with the division
of data processing and telecommunications of the office
of administration to develop the electronic services offered
by the public governmental body to the public pursuant to
this section.
610.030. Injunctive relief
authorized
The circuit courts of this state shall have the jurisdiction
to issue injunctions to enforce the provisions of sections
610.010 to 610.115.
610.032. Closed records and
information -- disclosure of information -- executive agency
1. If an executive agency's records are closed by law,
it may not disclose any information contained in such closed
records in any form that would allow identification of individual
persons or entities unless:
(1) Disclosure of such information is made to a person
in that person's official capacity representing an executive
agency and the disclosure is necessary for the requesting
executive agency to perform its constitutional or statutory
duties; or
(2) Disclosure is otherwise required by law.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
including, but not limited, to section 32.057, RSMo, such
closed information may be disclosed pursuant to this section;
however, the providing executive agency may request, as
a condition of disclosing such information, that the requesting
executive agency submit:
(1) The constitutional or statutory duties necessitating
the disclosure of such information;
(2) The name and official capacity of the person or
persons to whom such information will be disclosed;
(3) An affirmation that such information will be used
only in furtherance of such constitutional or statutory
duties; and
(4) The date upon which the access is requested to
begin, when the request is for continuous access.
3. Any executive agency receiving such a request for closed
information shall keep the request on file and shall only
release such information to the person or persons listed
on such request. If the request is for continuous access
to such information, the executive agency shall honor the
request for a period of one year from the beginning date
indicated on such request. If the requesting executive agency
requests such information for more than one year, the agency
shall provide an updated request for closed information
to the providing executive agency upon expiration of the
initial request.
4. Any person receiving or releasing closed information
pursuant to this section shall be subject to any laws, regulations
or standards of the providing executive agency regarding
the confidentiality or misuse of such information and shall
be subject to any penalties provided by such laws, regulations
or standards for the violation of the confidentiality or
misuse of such information.
5. For the purposes of this section, "executive agency"
means any administrative governmental entity created by
the constitution or statutes of this state under the executive
branch, including any department, agency, board, bureau,
council, commission, committee, board of regents or board
of curators of any institution of higher learning supported
in whole or in part by state funds, any subdivision of an
executive agency, and any legally designated agent of such
entity.
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