[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Riverhead 4-1-1997 by L.L. No. 3-1997 (Ch. 78, §§ 78-1 through 78-4, 78-6 and
78-7, of the 1976 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
Records are essential to the administration of local government.
They 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 would be intended to document delivery services, show
the legal responsibilities of government and protect the legal rights
of citizens. It will contain information on taxation and on the management
and expenditure of funds. These records will also document the historical
document of government itself, the community and the people of the
Town.
There shall be a records management program established under
the aegis of the Town Clerk and headed by a records management officer.
The Town Clerk is designated as the records management officer and
will be responsible for administering the current and archived public
records in storage areas for the Town in accordance with local, state
and federal laws and guidelines.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Those official records which have been determined by the
records management officer and advisory committee to have sufficient
historical or other value to warrant the continued preservation by
the Town.[1]
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.
"Record," as used herein, shall not be deemed to include library materials,
extra copies of documents created only for convenience of reference,
and stocks of publications.[2]
An establishment maintained by the records management officer
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 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 temporary
or permanent storage determined to have historical or other sufficient
value warranting continued preservation; or the transfer of records
from one Town agency to another Town agency.
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.
Making information in records available to any 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 public records
kept, filed or received by the officers 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 method to be used for the maintaining, storing and
servicing of the following:
(1)
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to the New York State
Retention and Disposition Schedules, thereby subject to disposition;
(2)
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research, historical
or educational value which warrants 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 of the Town government in accordance
with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The records management officer shall operate a central records management
storage facility for storage, processing and servicing of all Town
records for all Town departments and agencies.
D.
Additional requirements of the records management officer will include
but are not limited to:
(1)
The development of a comprehensive records management program.
(2)
The conduct of an initial survey and analysis of all records.
(3)
The encouragement and coordination of the continuous legal destruction
of obsolete records through the adoption and use of the State Archive
Record Retention and Distribution Schedules.
(4)
The development and a suitable retention period for records not covered
by the State Records Retention and Distribution Schedules.
(5)
The assistance to each department for the establishment of a records
management system to support the overall Town records management program.
(6)
The setting up and overseeing of a center for the storage of inactive
records.
(7)
The coordinating and carrying out or participating in the planning
for development of advanced records management systems and equipment.
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.
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.
