CMO Records Management & FOIA 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A city council member asks the city clerk to withhold meeting minutes from public access. What is the clerk's proper response?
- Comply immediately as council members outrank the clerk
- Decline and explain that adopted meeting minutes are public records subject to disclosure (Correct answer)
- Refer the decision to the mayor
- Seal the minutes for 30 days pending legal review
Correct answer: Decline and explain that adopted meeting minutes are public records subject to disclosure
Adopted meeting minutes are public records and the clerk has a legal duty to maintain and provide access to them regardless of political pressure.
Question 2: Which term describes records that document the organization, functions, policies, and decisions of a government entity and have enduring value?
- Transitory records
- Archival or permanent records (Correct answer)
- Working papers
- Duplicate records
Correct answer: Archival or permanent records
Archival or permanent records have enduring administrative, legal, fiscal, or historical value and must be preserved indefinitely.
Question 3: Under FOIA, what is the 'Glomar response'?
- A form used to appeal a denial
- A response that neither confirms nor denies the existence of certain records (Correct answer)
- A standard fee waiver application
- A schedule for releasing records in batches
Correct answer: A response that neither confirms nor denies the existence of certain records
A Glomar response neither confirms nor denies the existence of records when confirming their existence would itself reveal exempt information, such as classified intelligence.
Question 4: When must a municipality produce records in a specific format requested by a FOIA requestor?
- Never — the agency always chooses the format
- When the records exist in that format and production is not burdensome (Correct answer)
- Only when the requestor pays a premium formatting fee
- Only for records fewer than 10 pages
Correct answer: When the records exist in that format and production is not burdensome
Many FOIA laws require agencies to provide records in the requested format if they already exist in that format and production is not unduly burdensome.
Question 5: What is the purpose of a 'litigation hold' in a municipal records management program?
- To accelerate the destruction of records involved in lawsuits
- To suspend normal disposition of records that are relevant to anticipated or active litigation (Correct answer)
- To transfer custody of records to the plaintiff's attorney
- To seal records from internal staff access during a trial
Correct answer: To suspend normal disposition of records that are relevant to anticipated or active litigation
A litigation hold requires the municipality to suspend routine destruction or disposal of records that may be relevant to existing or anticipated legal proceedings.
Question 6: A municipal officer receives a FOIA request for the personal cell phone records of the city manager used to conduct city business. Are these records subject to disclosure?
- No, personal devices are always exempt from FOIA
- Yes, records of public business are subject to FOIA regardless of the device used (Correct answer)
- Only if the city manager consents to disclosure
- Only if the city pays the cell phone bill
Correct answer: Yes, records of public business are subject to FOIA regardless of the device used
Courts have consistently held that public business conducted on personal devices creates public records subject to FOIA, regardless of device ownership.
Question 7: Which of the following is the best practice for managing electronic records to ensure long-term accessibility?
- Store all records in proprietary software formats to maximize security
- Use open, non-proprietary formats and migrate records as technology evolves (Correct answer)
- Print all electronic records to paper for permanent storage
- Rely solely on the original software vendor to maintain accessibility
Correct answer: Use open, non-proprietary formats and migrate records as technology evolves
Open formats and periodic migration prevent records from becoming inaccessible due to software obsolescence, a key challenge in long-term electronic records management.
CMO Records Management & FOIA 4
A city council member asks the city clerk to withhold meeting minutes from public access.
What is the clerk's proper response?