GRADE: 14

SALARY: $45,604 – 71,292

POSITION TITLE: Sunshine Law Analyst

DEPARTMENT: Sunshine Law Unit

REPORTS TO: Sunshine Law Administrator

Position Summary

Responsible for the intake, processing, and fulfillment of public records requests, particularly those of a complex nature. This role involves retrieval and meticulous review and redaction of sensitive police records, including those related to active criminal investigations, in accordance with the Missouri Sunshine Law. A high level of analytical and statutory knowledge is required to balance transparency and the critical need to protect witness safety and integrity of law enforcement proceedings. Requires advanced knowledge of statute and ability to apply exemptions across all types of police records

FUNCTIONS OF THE JOB

Essential Functions

• Evaluates records for responsiveness, applies appropriate redactions and ensures sensitive or exempt information is protected.
• Analyze requests to determine scope, clarify ambiguities and identify responsive records across departmental systems.
• Coordinates with internal units to locate and compile responsive documents.
• Prepare written responses which may include denials with clear legal justifications.
• Manage large-scale productions, including digital evidence such as body-worn camera footage, photos and 911 audio and apply necessary redactions.
• Ability to identify and escalate high-risk or sensitive requests to appropriate supervisory staff.
• Respond to customer inquiries by phone or in writing.
• Maintain REJIS/MULES certifications
• Monitor deadlines and requests/manages time extensions when necessary.
• Assist with other administrative tasks such as sorting mail, copying records, creating requests, answering phones, record maintenance, filing and other similar tasks.
• Assist with processing Records Subpoenas
• Seeks advice/approval from the Sunshine Law Administrator regarding open and closed records when necessary.
• May perform other similar or related duties as assigned
• Regular, punctual attendance is required.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Associate or Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, legal studies, public administration, political science or closely related field OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Experience in office procedures with an emphasis in law enforcement records and the Missouri Sunshine Law preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to apply complex understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written or oral form.
• Ability to develop customer service skills necessary to build rapport with the public by:
• Giving full attention to customer questions/concerns.
• Communicate information and ideas in a polite and professional manner.
• Actively assisting the customer in confusion.
• Speaking professionally and respectfully to customers
• Ensuring a constructive and cooperative environment when assisting a customer.
• Ability to address confrontational issues in a professional manner.
• Ability to communicate concerns to his/her superior.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.
• Knowledge of records management and reporting writing systems and microfilm records.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Human Interaction: Requires the ability to influence, train and monitor other clerical staff in favor of a desired outcome. Requires the ability to act as a lead person or train others in the use of computer operations and software applications.
• Equipment, Machinery, Tools and Materials Use: Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or provide simple but continuous adjustment on equipment, machinery and tools such as a telephone, typewriter, personal computer, computer terminal, calculator, copier, fax, and scanner and/or materials used in performing essential functions.
• Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize a wide variety of reference and descriptive data and information such as ordinances, codes, requisitions, receipts, invoices, billing statements, transaction forms, worksheets, waivers, forms and purchase orders. 
• Mathematical Aptitude: Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; calculate decimals and percentages.
• Functional Reasoning: Requires the ability to apply principles of influence systems such as leading, training, and coordinating. Ability to exercise independent judgment to apply facts and principles for developing approaches and techniques to problem resolution.
• Situational Reasoning: Requires the ability to exercise the judgment, decisiveness and creativity required in situations involving the evaluation of information against sensory, judgmental and/or subjective criteria, as opposed to criteria that are clearly measurable or verifiable.
• Environmental Factors: Work is normally performed in an office environment under generally safe and comfortable conditions where exposure to irate individuals poses a very limited risk of injury.
• Physical Requirements: Requires the ability to exert light physical effort, typically involving some combination of lifting and carrying objects of light weight, five (5) to ten (10) pounds, such as file boxes, mail crates and packages. Requires the ability to stoop, kneel and bend in order to perform filing duties. Tasks may involve extended periods of time at a keyboard or workstation.
• Sensory Requirements: Requires the ability to recognize and identify individual characteristics of sounds such as that associated with answering the telephone.
• Data Utilization: Requires the ability to perform basic level of data analysis including the ability to review, classify, categorize, prioritize and/or reference data, statutes and/or guidelines and/or group, rank, investigate and diagnose. Requires discretion in determining and referencing such to established standards to recognize interactive effects and relationships.

Working Environment:

• Normal office environment with attending outside functions when required.

Machines, Tools, Equipment and Work Aids: 

• Personal Computer
• Telephone
• Cell Phone
• Copier/Fax Machine

PHYSICAL/VISUAL ACTIVITIES OR DEMANDS

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, reach, grasp, talk, and hear.

This position requires clarity of vision at 20 inches or less and the ability to bring objects into sharp focus, while reading from a computer screen.

The job has light physical demand (primarily sedentary) requiring the employee to exert negligible force frequently to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects in the normal course of routine office activities.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The job description does not necessarily contain all of the actual or essential duties of this position.  All job offers are contingent upon passing a medical evaluation/drug screen and criminal background check.

Certain job functions described herein may be subject to possible modification in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.  

“Commonly associated” is not intended to mean always or only. There are different experiences that suggest other ways or circumstances where reasonable changes or accommodations are appropriate.