[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Tuxedo 11-9-1988 as L.L. No. 7-1988. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
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 officer will be responsible
for administering the noncurrent and archival public records and storage
areas for the Town of Tuxedo in accordance with local, state and federal
laws and guidelines.
The 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 Tuxedo.
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 State 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
of Tuxedo in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The Records Management Officer shall report annually
to the chief executive official and the governing body on the powers
and duties herein mentioned, including but not limited to the cost-benefit
ratio or programs effectuated by the department.
D.
The officer shall operate a Records Management Center
for the storage, processing and servicing of all noncurrent and archival
records for all Town of Tuxedo departments and agencies.
E.
The officer shall establish a Town of Tuxedo Archives
and perform the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Town of Tuxedo departments in reviewing
and selecting material to be transferred to the Town of Tuxedo 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 of Tuxedo
offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official
Town of Tuxedo records but which have associational value to the Town
of Tuxedo 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 Board shall consist of the members of the Town Board.
The Board shall meet periodically and shall 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 be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.
A.
A Town of Tuxedo department is the legal custodian
of its records and shall retain custody of records deposited in the
Records Center. 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 the 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 had 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 Legal Department may take steps to recover
local government records which have been alienated 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 of Tuxedo 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.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
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.
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 of Tuxedo business.
An establishment maintained by the Town of Tuxedo 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.
The removal by the Town of Tuxedo 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:
The transfer of records from one Town of Tuxedo
agency to any other Town of Tuxedo agency.
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.
Making information in records available to any Town of Tuxedo
agency for official use or to the public.
