be distributed by the department but only after approval from the Village Manager or Assistant Village Manager. Departments are required to retain a copy of the non-routine documents disbursed under the public information request. When an employee is unsure if the public information request is routine or non-routine, the employee should treat the request as if it is non-routine. Significant documents – These are related to an issue that is either currently being litigated, has been litigated, or is expected to be litigated in the future. Any request for copies of internal communications (e.g. email, memos, etc.) are considered to be significant documents. Employees should take the following steps when they receive a public information request for significant documents: 1) Immediately notify the Village Manager of the request. The Village Manager or his/her designee is solely responsible for authorizing the staff to gather the information or make it available for inspection or review by the requesting party. Depending on the nature of individual requests the Village Manager or his/her designee may notify the Village Attorney of the request. 2) Employees should turn over all materials requested to the Village Clerk for cataloging of what is included and to be reviewed by the Village Manager. A copy of the information shall be made, kept intact and retained prior to being reviewed by the requesting party or released. 3) The Village Manager or his/her designee will review the gathered information and authorize the Village Clerk to release the records. Employees are required to charge the applicable fees allowed for public records requests, per NCGS 132-6.2, as indicated in the Village’s Fees and Charges Schedule. Routine public safety incident related reports and intergovernmental requests are fee exempt. If employees receive an extensive public records request and overtime is needed to fulfill the request, the Village Manager must approve the overtime in advance and the employee is required to notify the public records requestor of the estimated cost to produce the records requested prior to accumulating the records and incurring any overtime. D. Informing Employees of External Communications The Communications Specialist is responsible for routinely communicating the external communications distributed under this policy to Village employees. This will be accomplished via the employee intranet, employee emails, and/or CodeRed calls, as appropriate. This will ensure all Village employees are adequately informed in a timely manner to better serve the Village’s customers.
Village of Pinehurst – External Communications Policy
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