[HISTORY: Comes from L.L.
No. 10-1996, adopted 2-27-1996, effective 3-4-1996.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Access to history records — See Ch. 5.
Records are essential to the administration of local government.
Records contain the information that keeps government programs functioning.
It is the intent of this chapter that a records management program
be established which will assist officials in making decisions, administering
programs and providing administrative continuity with past operations.
The program is intended to document the delivery of services, show
the legal responsibilities of government and protect the legal rights
of citizens. The program will contain information on taxation and
on the management and expenditure of funds. The records will also
document the historical development of government itself, the community
and the citizens of the Town of Hempstead.
A.
There shall be a records management program established and headed
under the aegis of the Town Clerk of the Town of Hempstead. The Town
Clerk is hereby designated as the Records Management Officer (RMO)
and will be responsible for administering the current and archival
public records in storage areas for the Town of Hempstead in accordance
with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
A.
ARCHIVES
RECORDS
RECORDS CENTER
RECORDS DISPOSITION
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
SERVICING
TOWN
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Those official records which have been determined by the
RMO and advisory committee to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant the continued preservation by the town.
Official files, minutes and documents, books, papers, photographs,
sound recordings, microforms or any other materials, regardless of
physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law
or in conjunction with the transaction of official town business.
A central storage area maintained by the RMO for the storage,
servicing, security and processing of records which must be preserved
for varying periods of time.
The removal by the town, in accordance with approved records
control schedules, of the records no longer necessary for the conduct
of business by such agency through removal methods, which may include
the disposition of temporary records by destruction or donation, or
the transfer of records to a central storage facility for records
with scheduled retention periods or permanent storage of records determined
to have historical or other sufficient value warranting continued
preservation, or the transfer of records from one town to another
town department.
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial activities involved in records creation,
records maintenance and use and records disposition, including records
preservation, records disposal and the records center or other storage
facilities.
Make information in records available to any town department
for official use or to the public.
The Town of Hempstead.
A.
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 public records kept,
filed or received by the officers and departments of the town.
B.
The Records Management Officer shall continually survey and examine
public records to recommend their classification so as to determine
the most suitable method to be used for maintaining, storing and servicing
them under the following guidelines:
(1)
Disposition: Records deemed obsolete and unnecessary according to
the New York State retention and disposition schedule are subject
to disposition.
(2)
Archival retention: information containing administrative, legal,
fiscal, research, historical or educational value which warrants their
permanent retention.
(3)
Active retention: records not yet subject to disposition according
to state law.
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 development and progress of programs to date and planned
activities for subsequent years.
D.
The Records Management Officer shall operate a central records management
storage facility for storage, processing and servicing all town records
for all town departments and agencies, subject to storage space availability.
E.
Additional duties of the Records Management Officer include but are
not limited to:
(1)
The development of a comprehensive records management program.
(2)
The encouragement and coordination of the continuous legal destruction
of obsolete records through the adoption and use of the state archives
record retention and disposition schedules.
(3)
The development of suitable retention periods for records not covered
by the state records retention and disposition schedules. The RMO
shall secure approval of such retention periods from the New York
State Commissioner of Education of any proposed change before the
retention period takes effect.
(4)
The assistance to each department for the establishment of a records
management system to support the overall town records management program.
Encourage the continued efficient management of records within respective
departments.
(5)
Maintain archival materials which are not official town records but
which have historical value to the community or close relationship
to the existing archival collection. This shall be subject to archival
space, staff and cost limitations, and to the potential endangerment
of such materials if they are not collected by the archives.
(6)
The coordinating and carrying out of participating in the planning
for development of advanced records management systems and equipment.
A.
There shall be a Records Advisory Board designated to work closely
with and provide advice to the Records Management Officer. The Advisory
Board shall consist of the Town Historian, a town department commissioner
or his/her designated representative, a Town Board member or his/her
designated representative and a Deputy Town Attorney. Appointments
to the Records Advisory Board shall be made by the Supervisor.
B.
The Records Advisory Board shall meet periodically and have the following
duties:
(1)
To provide advice to the RMO on the development of the records management
program.
(2)
To review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis and
propose changes and improvements.
(3)
To review any changes in retention periods proposed by the RMO for
records not covered by the state archives schedules.
(4)
To 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.
Active records. The originating department shall have full custody
(legal and physical) over records still in active use.
B.
Inactive records. The originating department is the legal custodian
of inactive records and shall retain the power to retrieve and use
records deposited in inactive storage in the records center. The RMO
will have physical custody of inactive records and will determine
the method and design of storage.
C.
Archival records. Records transferred to or acquired by the archives
shall be under the full custody (legal and physical) of the archives,
as directed by the RMO, rather than the department which created or
held them immediately prior to being transferred to the archives.
(1)
Records shall be transferred to the archives upon the recommendation
of the RMO, with the approval of the head of the department which
had custody of the records and the approval of the Records Advisory
Board.
(2)
Records may be removed (temporarily or permanently) from the archives
at the request of the RMO 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.
A.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a department
of the town until it has met the time limit on the state records retention
and disposition schedule or unless approved by the RMO with the express
written consent of the department head having authority. Subsequent
to required consents but prior to actual destruction, the RMO shall
allow the Town Historian to review and/or remove any single document,
or sampling of documents that are of historic value to the community.
A.
Access to records shall be made pursuant to and governed by Article
6 of the Public Officers Law of the State of New York.
B.
The Office of the Town Attorney is hereby designated as the appeal
agency for determination of denials of access to records. The Office
of the Town Attorney shall, within 10 business days of the receipt
of an appeal, fully explain in writing to the person requesting the
record the reason for further denial or the Office of the Town Attorney
shall provide access to the record requested.
C.
A set fee will be charged per photocopy of record. Such charges will
be established by resolution of the Town Board.
The Office of the Town Attorney may take any and all appropriate
steps to recover town records which have been removed from proper
custody and may, when necessary, institute any and all actions in
a court of competent jurisdiction to recover such records.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or
part of the chapter is adjudged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction,
the judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder
of this chapter, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
sentence, paragraph, section or part of this chapter that shall be
directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall
have been rendered.
