§ 2-352. Official custodians.

(a)

Appointment. All department heads are official records custodians for public records not on file in the office of the unified government clerk and shall be kept and maintained within their respective departments.

(b)

Designation of additional record custodian.

(1)

Each of the official custodians appointed in subsection (a) of this section may designate any subordinate officers or employees to serve as record custodians. Such record custodians shall have such duties and powers as are set out in the state Open Records Act.

(2)

Whenever an official custodian appoints another person as a record custodian, the official custodian shall notify the unified government clerk and the county administrator of such designation and the unified government clerk shall maintain a register of all such designations.

(c)

Duties of custodians. All unified government officers and employees appointed or designated under this section shall:

(1)

Protect public records from damage and disorganization.

(2)

Prevent excessive disruption of the essential functions of the unified government.

(3)

Provide assistance and information upon request and ensure efficient and timely action and response to all applications for inspection of public records.

(4)

Carry out the procedures adopted for inspecting and copying open public records.

(d)

Requests to be directed to custodians.

(1)

All members of the public, in seeking access to, or copies of, a public record in accordance with the provisions of the state Open Records Act, shall address their requests to the custodian charged with responsibility for the maintenance of the record sought to be inspected or copied.

(2)

Whenever any unified government officer or employee appointed or designated as a custodian under this section is presented with a request for access to, or copy of, a public record, which record the custodian does not possess and for which the custodian has not been given responsibility to keep and maintain, the custodian shall so advise the person requesting the record. The person making the request shall be informed as to which custodian the request should be addressed to, if such is known by the custodian receiving the request.

(Code 1964, § 2-6; Code 1988, § 2-501; Ord. No. 64557, §§ 1—4, 12-15-1983)