[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Kingston
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Public access to records — See Ch. 298.
[Adopted 5-21-2009 by Res. No. 14]
There shall be a records management program established under
the aegis of the Town of Kingston and headed by a Records Management
Officer (RMO), already designated as the Town Clerk, who is the official
keeper of records. The Officer will be responsible for administering
the noncurrent and archival public records and storage areas for the
Town of Kingston in accordance with local, state and federal laws
and guidelines.
A.
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 Kingston.
B.
The Records Management Officer and/or designee 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,
storage 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 warrants its permanent retention; or
(3)
Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
C.
The Officer shall establish guidelines for proper records management
in any department or agency of the Town of Kingston in accordance
with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
D.
The 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 of programs effectuated
by the department.
E.
The Officer shall operate a Records Management Center for the storage,
processing and serving of all noncurrent and archival records for
all Town of Kingston departments and agencies.
F.
The Officer shall establish a Town of Kingston Archives and perform
the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Town of Kingston departments in reviewing and selecting
material to be transferred to the Town of Kingston 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
state or federal statutes.
(6)
Provide information services to other Town of Kingston offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official Town of Kingston
records but which have associational value to the Town of Kingston
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 not collected
by the Archives.
(8)
Develop a procedure whereby historically important records are to
be identified at the point of generation.
A Records Advisory Board shall be designated to provide advice,
guidance and support to the records program. Members of the Records
Advisory Board shall be in positions of sufficient authority to ensure
compliance with records management practices throughout all departments.
The Board shall consist of the Supervisor, the Town Clerk, the Superintendent
of Highways, a representative from the Justice Court, Building Department,
Assessor's Office and Tax Office. The Board shall:
A.
The Town Clerk is the legal custodian of records and shall retain
custody of records deposited in the Records Center.
B.
Records shall be transferred to the Archives upon the recommendation
of the RMO, 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 RMO or head of the department which had prior custody of the
records subject to the approval of the Advisory Board.
The legal staff may take steps to recover local government records
which have been alienated from proper custody and may, when necessary,
institute actions of replevin.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Those official records which have been determined by the
RMO and Advisory Board 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 Kingston business.
An area established and maintained by the Town of Kingston
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 Kingston, in accordance with approved
records control schedules, of records no longer necessary for the
conduct of business by such agency through the removal methods which
may include the disposal of temporary records by destruction or donation
or the transfer of records from the Records Center/Archives for the
temporary storage of inactive records and permanent storage of records
determined to have historical or other sufficient value warranting
continued preservation.
The transfer of records from one Town of Kingston agency to
another Town of Kingston 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 Kingston
agency for official use or to the public.
[Adopted 5-21-2009 by Res. No. 13]
It is hereby resolved by the Town Board of the Town of Kingston
that the Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1, issued pursuant
to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, and containing
legal minimum retention periods for municipal government records,
is hereby adopted for use by all municipal officers in disposing of
municipal government records listed therein.
It is hereby further resolved that, in accordance with Article
57-A:
A.
Only those records will be disposed of that are described in Records
Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 after they have met the minimum
retention period prescribed therein.
B.
Only those records will be disposed of that do not have sufficient
administrative, fiscal, legal or historical value to merit retention
beyond established time periods.
