Policy 622PR1

Appendix A
Legal Custodian of Records

The Vice President of Human Resources has been designated as the legal custodian of records for the Northcentral Technical College District.

The legal custodian is vested by the Northcentral Technical College District with full legal power to render decisions and carry out the duties of the Northcentral Technical College District under the Public Records and Property Law.  Requests for access to records or release of other information pertaining to the Northcentral Technical College District shall be referred to the legal custodian.  The legal custodian will determine whether a record must be made available for inspection and/or copying by a requestor, or whether the request may be denied.

Appendix B

OFFICIAL NOTICE

PURSUANT TO WISCONSIN LAW, this Notice has been adopted by the Northcentral Technical College District, which is a Municipality (hereafter “the College”) organized and existing pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes.

The Board of Trustees of the College has directed that this Notice be placed on the College website so that the Notice can be viewed and inspected by any member of the public.  In addition, individual copies of this Notice will be made available to any person who requests such a copy from the official legal custodian of the records of the College.

THE COLLEGE IS SUBJECT TO THE WISCONSIN PUBLIC RECORDS LAW.  THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS PROVIDED TO THE PUBLIC TO ASSIST THEM IN OBTAINING ACCESS TO THE RECORDS OF THE COLLEGE.

1. The College has designated the Vice President of Human Resources as the official legal custodian of the records and property of the College.  The name of the individual presently holding this position can be obtained by contacting the Human Resources Office of the College which is located at the following address:  1000 W. Campus Drive Wausau, Wisconsin 54401.
2. Any public record of the College will be made available for inspection at the offices of the official legal custodian during normal, regular business hours upon proper request.  The normal, regular business hours of the offices of the Legal Custodian are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.  No original public records of the College shall be removed from the possession of the official legal custodian.  The official legal custodian shall be responsible for designating where, when and how the public records of the College may be inspected and copied.  However, the decisions of the official legal custodian of the records shall be governed by this Notice. 
3. The following are positions that constitute a “local public office” which are subject to special requirements of the Public Records Law: 
   • Members of the Board of Trustees
   • District President
   • Vice President of Human Resources, Vice President of Learning, Vice President of Student Services and Vice President of Finance.
4. The policy of the College regarding the release, inspection, and/or reproduction of public records is as follows:
   • The official legal custodian will grant or deny a request to release, inspect, or copy public record(s) pursuant to Wis. Stat. §§ 19.21 – 19.39.
   • After the receipt of any written request for access to the public records of the College, the official legal custodian will attempt to make such records available as soon thereafter as practical.  
   • If any records of the College are requested which are necessary for the day-to-day operation of the College, the official legal custodian may arrange for the records to be inspected after normal working hours.
   • If a request is denied, it will be denied in writing not later than five (5) working days after the request has been made.  If a public record cannot be made available within five (5) working days, the official legal custodian will inform the requestor when the record can be made available.
   • If the official legal custodian determines that portions of any records requested contain information which should not be released, the custodian will edit such records to remove the material not to be released and thereafter release the balance of the document.
   • Any requests for computer records of the College will be referred by the official legal custodian to the individual in charge of the equipment involved to determine the cost of any computer search, printing charges, and possible time available on the machine.  Because computer time can be expensive, computer information will not be provided until the person requesting the information is informed of the estimated costs.
5. It is the general policy of the College that the College will not respond to oral requests for records of the College, and, therefore, all requests for any records of the College must be submitted in writing to the official legal custodian.  It is not necessary that any person requesting access to the records of the College identify himself or herself in order to obtain a record, nor need any person requesting access to the records of the College state any reason for his or her request.
6. Any written request for a record must reasonably describe the record or information sought.  If the official legal custodian cannot reasonably determine what records or information are being requested, the request shall be denied in writing and the reason for the denial shall be stated in the written denial.
7. Any person shall have not only the right to inspect the records of the College, but also the right to receive a reproduction of such records.  In the event that a person files a written request for reproduction of any of the records of the College, that person shall be informed of the costs of locating and reproducing such records.  Fees charged by the College relative to the costs of producing any of the records of the College are set forth in the “Fee Schedule” attached hereto.
8. NTC is obligated to give notice to the person named in the record and allow time for
         the person to seek judicial review before allowing access to the record.
         A.  The records that are subject to this right of judicial review are:
   • A record containing information relating to an employee that is the result of an investigation into a disciplinary matter involving the employee or a possible employment-related violation by the employee of a statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, or policy of the employee’s employer;
   • A record obtained by the municipality through a subpoena or a search warrant; and
   • A record prepared by an employer other than the municipality if the record contains information relating to the employee unless the employee authorizes the municipality to provide access to that information.

                   B.  NTC is obligated to give notice to the “record subject” “to whom the record
                       pertains” and not to all persons named in the record.  While the record may
                       pertain to more than one individual, the mere fact that the record contains
                       personally identifiable information about the individual such as his or her name
                      does not mean that individual is entitled to be notified that the record is proposed
                       to be released. 

• Notice must be issued within three days of the decision to release
• Notice must be issued by certified mail or personal service
• Notice must “briefly describe” the record
• Notice  must describe challenge process
• Employee may give notice of intent to seek court order within five days of receipt of notice
• Employee may commence action on court within 10 days of receipt of notice
• If no action is commenced within 12 days of sending the notice, then release is required
• If action is commenced, then release is prohibited until court action is complete
• Custodian is responsible to notify requester of results of court action if requester does not intervene

Appendix C
FEE SCHEDULE

I.          COSTS OF LOCATING DOCUMENTS:

             Costs associated with locating records will be charged if they exceed $50.00.  The official legal custodian will seek the prior written approval of the requestor before proceeding.  In addition, the custodian will endeavor, but will not be required, to provide an estimate of the total anticipated costs for locating the record.

            The College will determine the cost of locating a record by using the current hourly rate for employees involved in attempting to locate the record and reproduction/copy of the record.

II.        REPRODUCTION EXPENSES:

            1.         Costs of copying and reproduction of records where equipment is available will be paid at the time the record is provided.  Fees may also include the labor expense directly incurred with the reproduction of records. 

                        A.        Five cents per page. 

                        B.        An hourly charge of the person copying the record shall be paid on a ¼ hourly basis.

           2.         Costs of reproduction of records where equipment is not available within the College.

                        A.        If equipment necessary for any reproduction is not available within the College, the                         College will rent whatever equipment is necessary to perform the function and will bill the                         requestor for such rental fee.  The cost charged will be the actual costs paid by the College                         to the third party vendor.

                        B.        Items in such a situation would include but would not be limited to audio or videotape                         reproduction equipment, microfilm or fiche or ultra fiche reproduction equipment, assorted                         computer hardware and software.

                        C.        The actual cost to the College of the tape or other medium used for reproduction shall                         also be paid by the person making the request.

III. MAILING EXPENSE
           1.  A fee may also include the actual necessary and direct cost of mailing or shipping documents. 

IV.   DISPUTES:

          1.         The official legal custodian of the records of the College shall report any disputes that arise under this fee schedule to the Northcentral Technical College District and shall recommend such modifications and revisions, as he/she deems necessary.

V.        PAYMENT OF FEES:

              1.         The official legal custodian of the records of the College will require the payment of                actual costs when the record is provided.

                2.            The official legal custodian of the records of the College may, in his/her sole                         discretion, elect to waive the imposition of the costs provided for herein.