[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Cornwall 3-14-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Public access to records — See Ch. 49.
As used herein, the following term shall have the meanings indicated:
ARCHIVE
Those official records which have been determined by the Records Management Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the town.
RECORDS
Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound recordings, microforms or any other materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official town business.
RECORDS CENTER
An establishment maintained by the town primarily for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records which must be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained in office equipment or space.
RECORDS DISPOSITION
A. 
The removal by the town, in accordance with approved records control schedules, of records no longer necessary for the conduct of business by such agency through removal methods which may include:
(1) 
The disposal of temporary records by destruction or donation; or
(2) 
The transfer of records to the record center/archives for temporary storage of inactive records and permanent storage of records determined to have historical or other sufficient value warranting continued preservation; and
B. 
The transfer of records from one town agency to any other town agency.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promotion and other managerial use and records disposition, including records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other storage facilities.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER
The Town Clerk of the Town of Cornwall.
SERVICING
Making information in records available to any town agency for official use or to the public.
TOWN
The Town of Cornwall.
There shall be a records management program established under the aegis of the Town of Cornwall and headed by a Records Management Officer. The Records Management Officer will be responsible for administering the noncurrent and archival public records and storage areas for the Town of Cornwall in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
The Records Management Officer shall have all the necessary powers to carry out the efficient administration, determination of value, use, preservation, storage and disposition of the noncurrent and archival public records kept, filed or received by the offices and departments of the town.
A. 
The Records Management Officer shall continually survey and examine public records to recommend their classification so as to determine the most suitable methods to be used for the maintaining, storing and servicing of archival material:
(1) 
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to New York Records Retention and Disposition Schedules thereby subject to disposition;
(2) 
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research historical or educational value which warrant their permanent retention; or
(3) 
Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
B. 
The Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines for proper records management in any department or agency of the town in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C. 
The Records Management Officer shall report annually to the Town Board on the powers and duties herein mentioned, including but not limited to the cost/benefit ratio of programs effectuated by the department.
D. 
The Records Management Officer shall operate a Records Management Center for the storage, processing and servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for all town departments and agencies.
E. 
The records management officer shall establish town archives and perform the following functions:
(1) 
Advise and assist town departments in reviewing and selecting material to be transferred to the town archives for preservation.
(2) 
Continually survey and examine public records to determine the most suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining, storing and servicing of archival materials.
(3) 
Establish and maintain an adequate repository for the proper storage, conservation, processing and servicing of archival records.
(4) 
Promulgate rules governing public access to and use of records in the archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
(5) 
Develop a confidentiality policy for archival records designated confidential, provided that such policy does not conflict with any federal or state statutes.
(6) 
Provide information services to other town offices.
(7) 
Collect archival materials which are not official town records but which have associational value to the town or a close relationship to the existing archival collection. Such collecting shall be subject to archive space, staff and cost limitations and to the potential endangerment of such materials if they are not collected by the archives.
(8) 
Develop a procedure whereby historically important records are to be identified at the point of generation.
There shall be a Records Advisory Board designated to work closely with and provide advice to the Records Management Officer. The Records Advisory Board shall consist of three members who shall be appointed by the Town Board and may include a member of the Town Board. The Records Advisory Board shall meet periodically and have the following duties:
A. 
Provide advice to the Records Management Officer on the development of the records management program.
B. 
Review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis and propose changes and improvements.
C. 
Review retention periods proposed by the Records Management Officer for records not covered by state archives' schedules.
D. 
Provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival value and to be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.
A. 
A town department is the legal custodian of its records and shall retain custody of records deposited in the records enter. Records transferred to or acquired by the archives shall be under the custody and control of the archives rather than the department which created or held them immediately prior to being transferred to the archives.
B. 
Records shall be transferred to the archives upon the recommendation of the Records Management Officer, with the approval of the head of the department which has custody of the records and the approval of Records Advisory Board.
C. 
Records may be permanently removed from the archives at the request of the Records Management Officer or the head of the department which has custody of the records immediately prior to the transfer of those records to the archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
The town may take steps to recover town records which have been removed from proper custody and may, when necessary, institute actions of replevin.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a department of the town unless approval has been obtained from the Records Management Officer. No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the Records Management Officer without the express written consent of the department head having authority.