By law, under the inspection of Public Records Act, every person has the right to inspect public records of the City of Elephant Butte. The Act also makes compliance with requests to inspect public records and integral part of the routine duties of the officers and employees of the City of Elephant Butte.

Procedures for Requesting Inspection. Requests to inspect public records should be submitted to the records custodian (Municipal Clerk), located at 103 Water Street, telephone number 575-744-4892, fax number 575-744-4493 or email address cityoffice@cityofelphantbutte.com .

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.

If inspection is not permitted 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. 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 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 written denial shall be delivered or mailed within fifteen (15) calendar days after the records custodian received the request for inspection.

Procedures for Requesting Copies and Fees. If a person requesting inspection would like a copy of a public record, a reasonable fee may be charged. The fee for documents eleven inches by eight & one/half inches is $.25 per page. The fee for documents over eleven by eight & one/half inches up to eleven inches by seventeen inches is $.50 per page. The fee for a CD is $3.00. The records custodian may request that applicable fees for copying public records be paid in advance, before the copies are made. The custodian may permit copying on a person's own equipment depending on facility and staff availability. A charge may be made for the actual costs associated with downloading public records to a computer disc or storage device, including the actual cost of the computer disk or storage device. A receipt indicating that the fees have been paid for making copies of public records will be provided upon request to the person requesting the copies.

Go to http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&2.0 to read the statute.