Access to Public Records / Town of Munster, IN

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Access to Public Records

Access to Public Records

If you visit the Clerk-Treasurer's Office to access public records, you will be asked to complete a form that states what document(s) you wish to access. Your request must be specific. Sometimes, the records are not immediately available, in which case we will retrieve the records of interest and telephone you when they are ready for your inspection. If you want a copy of a public record, we charge ten cents per page, one side only, for every page after the first ten (the first ten copies are free).

Although the Clerk-Treasurer's Office will be pleased to help you access public documents, we cannot give legal advice or explain, interpret, or justify the records you access. We are familiar with the Indiana Access to Public Records Law (Indiana Code 5-14-3) and we will be happy to give you a copy of the statute without charge. We are guided in the way we handle your request by the "Handbook on Indiana's Public Access Laws," available online at http://www.in.gov/pac/files/pac_handbook.pdf.

Your inspection of public records will be supervised and if you wish to inspect many records, you may have to make multiple trips to Town Hall, since your inspection of records must be coordinated with operation of the office.

Although the Clerk-Treasurer is the keeper of records of the local legislative body, we cannot keep records that are not delivered to us. Therefore, if you request a record that is not in the Clerk-Treasurer's Office, we will deny your request and suggest that you look elsewhere. Sometimes, we know a record exists elsewhere; other times we do not. Sometimes, we need to check with our attorney to make sure that a public record is disclosable (some public records are not disclosable). If your request for access to a public record is denied, you will be given the reason for the denial.

Generally, we do not ask why you are requesting a particular record. But, it is sometimes helpful to know your need so we can better fulfill your request. You have a statutory right to access disclosable public records, and we will make our best effort to accommodate you, while preserving the rights of others.

Our office is located at Munster Town Hall, 1005 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana 46321. We are about three blocks east of Calumet Avenue on the north side of Ridge Road. Our office is open on Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Our telephone number is 219-836-6940.

Wendy Mis, Munster Clerk-Treasurer