The official Custodian of Records for the City of Foley is the office of the City Clerk pursuant to the Code of Alabama 1975, Section 11-43-100. All access to public records must be requested through the City Clerk.

The purpose of the Open Records Act is to allow the public to monitor the manner in which public officers discharge their public duties. However, not all records are public, such as confidential information, sensitive personnel records, records pertaining to pending criminal investigations, and records which if disclosed would be detrimental to the best interests of the public, as well as other categories of information that may not be appropriate for public disclosure.
In an effort to protect the City of Foley from any potential litigation, to establish accountability, and to establish a good tracking system, the Information Request/Subpoena Policy is hereby implemented.

It is the policy of the City of Foley to provide copies of public documents upon request in an expedient manner. When the request is received in the office of the City Clerk, the person requesting the information is told the request is normally handled within seven (7) working days. Such requests, particularly those involving a large volume of information, must be handled on a time available basis such as not to compromise the city’s day-to-day operations.

The municipal officials and employees have no greater rights to inspect records than do members of the public. Also, while the Council acting as a whole has the right to request to see certain documents, individual Council members must demonstrate their interests in order to review records, just like private citizens.
The City of Foley is entitled to recover its cost of providing requested information and is obligated to institute such procedures as are necessary to protect the public records and insure their continued integrity. To those ends, the following shall apply to all public information requests/subpoenas of any kind:

1. For reproduction of records the City will assess a per page charge as authorized by laws for reproduction costs; there will be a flat fee of $3.00 plus $.25 per page for documents consisting of 10 pages or more. If the applicant requests the records be mailed or faxed, additional charges will apply. An itemized bill will be given to the applicant with payment due prior to release of the records.

2. A research fee of employee’s hourly rate of pay will be charged for the time spent by each staff member. Research time will be billed in ¼ hour increments. Research fees can by waived by the Council and/or Mayor.

3. Returned check charges are equal to the current bank fee rate.

4. Reasonable public access shall be granted to view records under the supervision of a City employee designated by the City Clerk or in the City Clerk’s office.

5. The City is entitled to require verifiable information as to the identity of the person requesting the records as well as of the person receiving such information.

6. All records must remain in the custody of the City employee at all times. As a measure to safeguard records, reproductions may not be made by anyone other than a City employee designated by the City Clerk.

7. All requests must be presented to the City Clerk of the City of Foley’s Information Request form and signed. The applicant’s signature certifies that the applicant has read, understands, and agrees with the terms and conditions of the policy for handling public information requests.

8. All requests and/or subpoena served by the County Sheriff, certified mail, hand delivered by an attorney (pertaining to a lawsuit, and/or claim), must be processed by the City Clerk of the City of Foley, the official Custodian of Records.