Otero Soil and Water Conservation District

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO INSPECT PUBLIC RECORDS  

By law, under the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), every person has the right to inspect public records of the Otero Soil and Water Conservation District.
A person desiring to inspect public records may submit a request to the records custodian orally or in writing. However, the procedures and penalties prescribed by the Act apply only to written requests. A written request must contain the name, address, and telephone number of the person making the request.
The request must describe the records sought in sufficient detail to enable the records custodian to identify and locate the requested records. The records custodian must permit inspection immediately or as soon as practicable, but no later than fifteen (15) calendar days after the records custodian receives the inspection request. If inspection is not available within three (3) business days, the person making the request will receive a written response explaining when the records will be available for inspection or when the public body will respond to the request. If any of the records sought are not available for public inspection, the person making the request is entitled to a written response from the records custodian explaining the reasons inspection has been denied. The records custodian will deliver or mail the written denial within fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of the request for inspection.

NOTICE REGARDING INSPECTION OF PUBLIC RECORDS

1.     Public records of the Otero Soil and Water Conservation District are open to inspection during regular business hours (Mon-Fri, 8 am to 4 pm), upon request made to the designated Records Custodian, in accordance with the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA). 

2.     Requests to inspect a public record will be addressed to the appropriate Records Custodian (Victoria Milne, 3501 Mesa Village Drive, Alamogordo NM  88310, victoria.milne@nm.nacdnet.net or 575-4373100 ext. 3).  

3.     Requests may be made orally or in writing (including email). Requests should identify the name, address, and phone number of the requestor, and identify the records sought with reasonable particularity. 

4.     The Records Custodian may ask for clarification regarding the records sought, but it is illegal for a Records Custodian to ask the requestor the reason they wish to review a record. 

5.     Responses to requests will, if feasible, be made in the same medium as the request. (E.g., email requests are to be responded to via email.) 

6.     Within three (3) business days of receipt of a request, the Records Custodian must either make the records available for inspection or send a letter to the requestor explaining when, no more than fifteen (15) calendar days from the receipt of the request, the records will be made available for inspection or when the Records Custodian will respond further. If the Records Custodian determines that the request is excessively burdensome or broad and will take more than fifteen (15) calendar days to satisfy, the Records Custodian must, within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the request, give the requestor written notice that additional time will be needed.

7.     Original records may be inspected on site only, subject to reasonable conditions imposed by the Records Custodian to protect the integrity of the original records, and to prevent disruption of normal operations. 

8.     If the public record is available in electronic format and the requestor specifically requested an electronic copy, the Records Custodian will provide the public record in electronic format. 

9.     If a requested public record is contained in an information systems database, the Otero SWCD must provide the information sought, pursuant to NMSA 1978 §14-3-15.1, for a reasonable fee. The Otero SWCD is not obliged to compile information, nor to create a new record that it does not maintain. 

10.  A requestor may be required to pay a reasonable fee, in advance, for copying costs of no more than $1.00 per page, or in case of electronic copies the actual cost of downloading the copies and the cost of the electronic storage device. The Otero SWCD may also charge the actual cost transmittal (mail, fax, etc.). 

11.  Otero SWCD will protect from disclosure information exempt under IPRA or other laws or recognized privileges. Two federal laws that may prohibit the disclosure of records are the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). 2446

12.  The Records Custodians may not delay responding to, nor deny a records request. 

13.  The Records Custodian must separate public from private/confidential information prior to allowing any public inspection and must redact confidential material and any metadata that is susceptible to subsequent electronic/computerized recovery.