City records.
All documents, papers, letters, books, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings, microfilm, magnetic tape, electronic media, or other information-recording media, regardless of physical form or characteristic and regardless of whether public access to it is open or restricted under the laws of the state, created [or] received by [the city in] the transaction of public business, are hereby declared to be the records of the city, and shall be created, maintained, and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this article or procedures authorized by it and in no other manner. The term does not include:
(1) 
Extra identical copies of documents created only for convenience of reference or research by officers or employees of the local government;
(2) 
Notes, journals, diaries and other similar documents created by an officer or employee of the local government for the officer's or employee's personal convenience;
(3) 
Blank forms;
(4) 
Stocks of publications;
(5) 
Library and museum materials acquired solely for the purpose of reference or display; or
(6) 
Copies of documents in any media furnished to members of the public to which they are entitled under chapter 552, Texas Government Code, or other state law.
Department head
means the officer who by ordinance, order, or administrative policy is in charge of an office of the city that creates or receives records.
Essential record
means any record of the city necessary to the resumption or continuation of operations of the city in an emergency or disaster, to the re-creation of the legal and financial status of the city, or to the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people of the state.
Permanent record
means any record of the city for which the retention period on a records control schedule is given as permanent.
Records control schedule
means a document prepared by or under the authority of the records management officer listing the records maintained by the city, their retention periods, and other records disposition information that the records management program may require.
Records management
means the application of management techniques to the creation, use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of records for the purpose of reducing the cost and improving the efficiency of recordkeeping. The term includes the development of records control schedules, the management of filing and information retrieval systems, the protection of essential and permanent records, the economical and space-effective storage of inactive records, control over the creation and distribution of forms, reports, and correspondence, and the management of micrographic and electronic and other records storage systems.
Records management committee
means the committee established in section 2.07.005 of this article.
Records management officer
means the person designated in section 2.07.004 of this article.
Records management plan
means the plan developed under section 2.07.006 of this article.
Retention period
means the minimum time that must pass after the creation, recording, or receipt of a record, or the fulfillment of certain actions associated with a record, before it is eligible for destruction.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 1, adopted 8/10/98)
All city records as defined in this article are hereby declared to be the property of the city. No city official or employee has, by virtue of his or her position, any personal or property right to such records even though he or she may have developed or compiled them. The unauthorized destruction, removal from files, or use of such records is prohibited.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 2, adopted 8/10/98)
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the city to provide for efficient, economical, and effective controls over the creation, distribution, organization, maintenance, use, and disposition of all city records through a comprehensive system of integrated procedures for the management of records from their creation to their ultimate disposition, consistent with the requirements of the Texas Local Government Records Act and accepted records management practice.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 3, adopted 8/10/98)
The city secretary and the successive holders of said office shall serve as records management officer for the city. As provided by state law, each successive holder of the office shall file his or her name with the director and librarian of the state library within 30 days of the initial designation or of taking up the office, as applicable.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 4, adopted 8/10/98)
A records management committee consisting of the department heads of the city departments is hereby established to assist the records management officer in the development of a records management plan for the efficient and economical management of city records, including policies and procedures for the administration of the plan.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 5, adopted 8/10/98)
(a) 
The records management officer and the records management committee shall develop a records management plan for the city for submission to the city council. The plan must contain policies and procedures to reduce the costs and improve the efficiency of recordkeeping, to adequately protect the essential records of the city, and to properly preserve those records of the city that are of historical value. The plan must be designed to enable the records management officer to carry out his or her duties prescribed by state law and this article effectively.
(b) 
Once approved by the city council, the records management plan shall be binding on all offices, departments, divisions, programs, commissions, bureaus, boards, committees, or similar entities of the city and records shall be created, maintained, stored, microfilmed, or disposed of in accordance with the plan.
(c) 
State law relating to the duties, other responsibilities, or recordkeeping requirements of a department head do not exempt the department head or the records in the department head's care from the application of this article and the records management plan adopted under it and may not be used by the department head as a basis for refusal to participate in the records management program of the city.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 6, adopted 8/10/98)
(a) 
The records management officer, in cooperation with the records management committee, shall prepare records control schedules on a department-by-department basis listing all records created or received by the department and the retention period for each record. Records control schedules shall also contain such other information regarding the disposition of city records as the records management plan may require.
(b) 
Each records control schedule shall be monitored and amended as needed by the records management officer on a regular basis to ensure that it is in compliance with records retention schedules issued by the state and that it continues to reflect the recordkeeping procedures and needs of the department and the records management program of the city.
(c) 
Before its adoption a records control schedule or amended schedule for a department must be approved by the members of the records management committee.
(d) 
Before its adoption a records control schedule must be submitted to and accepted for filing by the director and librarian as provided by state law. If a schedule is not accepted for filing, the schedule shall be amended to make it acceptable for filing. The records management officer shall submit the records control schedules to the director and librarian.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 7, adopted 8/10/98)
(a) 
A records control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under section 2.07.006 shall be implemented by all departments according to the policies and procedures of the records management plan.
(b) 
A record whose retention period has expired on a records control schedule shall be destroyed unless an open record request is still pending on the record, the subject matter of the record is pertinent to a pending lawsuit, or the department head requests in writing to the records management committee that the record be retained for an additional period.
(c) 
Prior to the destruction of a record [under] an approved records control schedule, authorization for the destruction must be obtained by the records management officer from the records management committee.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 8, adopted 8/10/98)
A record that has not yet been listed on the approved records control schedule may be destroyed if its destruction has been approved in the same manner as a record destroyed under the approved schedule and the records management officer has submitted to and received back from the director and librarian an approved destruction authorization request.
(Ordinance 1998-12-0021, sec. 9, adopted 8/10/98)