Title 9 Part 6400

The purpose of this Part is to set forth the methods and procedures governing the availability of records of the New York State Council on the Arts subject to the provisions of article 6 of the Public Officers Law, known as the Freedom of Information Law.

For the purposes of this Part:

On behalf of the council, the records access officer shall maintain and make available for inspection a list of the types of records kept by the council.

The fee for photocopies of records shall be 25 cents per page not exceeding 8½ inches by 14 inches in size. The fee for other types of copies shall be such reasonable amount as the records access officer shall establish. Notwithstanding the above, the records access officer may, in his or her discretion, waive all or any portion of the fees authorized by this section for any record or class of records. At the request of any applicant, the records access officer shall certify, free of charge, that any record made available to the public pursuant to this Part is a genuine copy of a council record. There shall be no fee for inspection of records or for searching for records.

Unless the records access officer determines that an application to inspect and/or copy records pertains to information that is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law, he or she shall grant the application. If the records access officer determines that an application to inspect and/or copy records pertains to information exempted from disclosure by the Freedom of Information Law, he or she may deny such application. In denying the application to inspect and/or copy records, the records access officer shall indicate his or her reason for such denial and shall advise the applicant of his or her right to appeal such denial to the executive director.

Any person whose application to inspect or copy records has been denied pursuant to section 6400.5 of this Part may appeal such denial, within 30 days after the date thereof, to the executive director at 80 Centre Street, New York, New York 10013. Such appeal must be in writing and must set forth: the name and address of the applicant; the date of the request for records; the specific record(s) to which access was denied; whether the denial of access was in writing or was due to failure to provide records promptly in accordance with section 6400.2(d) of this Part; and the reasons, if any, given for such denial. The executive director shall, upon receipt of a written appeal, transmit a copy thereof to the Committee on Public Access to Records, review the matter and affirm, modify or reverse the denial. Within seven business days of receipt of the appeal, the executive director shall:

The amended version of this Part shall take effect as of the date of filing with the Secretary of State.

If any provision of this Part or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is adjudged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not affect or impair the validity of the other provisions of this Part or the application thereof to other persons and circumstances.