There shall be a Records Management Program
established under the aegis of the Office of the Town Clerk and headed
by a Records Management Officer (RMO). The Town Clerk is designated
as the Records Management Officer and will be responsible for administering
the noncurrent and archival public records and storage areas for the
Town of New Castle in accordance with local, state and federal laws
and guidelines.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those official records which have been determined by the
Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant their continued preservation by the local government.
RECORDS
Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound records,
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 of New Castle
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 of New Castle, 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.
SERVICING
Making information in records available to any town agency
for official use or to the public.
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 of New Castle.
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.
B. The Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines
for proper records management in any department or agency of the Town
of New Castle in accordance with the local, state and federal laws
and guidelines.
C. 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 of New Castle departments
and agencies.
D. The Records Management Officer shall plan for the
establishment of a Town Archives and oversee the following procedures
which shall be subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board:
(1) The review and selection of material to be transferred
to the Town Archives for preservation.
(2) The survey and examination of public records to determine
the most suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining,
storing and servicing of archival materials.
(3) Establishment and maintenance of an adequate repository
for the proper storage, conservation, processing and servicing of
archival records.
(4) Establishment of rules governing public access to
and use of records in the archives.
A Records Advisory Board shall be established
and shall consist of the Supervisor, the Town Historian and the Town
Counsel and shall have the following duties:
A. To provide advice to the Records Management Officer
on the development of the Records Management Program.
B. To review the performance of the program on an ongoing
basis and propose changes and improvements.
C. To review retention periods proposed by the Records
Management Officer for records not covered by State Archives'
schedules.
D. To provide advice on the appraisal of records for
archival value and be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is
not archival.
The Records Management Officer shall maintain
physical custody and the official responsibility for all records.
Department heads shall retain constructive control and authority over
all department records.
The Town Counsel may take steps to recover local
government records which have been alienated from proper custody and
may, when necessary, institute actions to recover such records.
No record shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed
of by a department of the Town of New Castle 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.