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 or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law or 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.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.801)
Department head.
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.
Any record of the city necessary to the resumption or continuation
of operations of the city in an emergency or disaster, to the recreation
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.
Any record of the city for which the retention period on
a records control schedule is given as permanent.
Records control schedule.
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.
The application of management techniques to the creation,
use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of records
for the purposes of reducing the costs 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 micrographics and electronic and other records storage
systems.
Retention period.
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.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.802)
All city records as defined in section
1.07.001 of 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.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.803)
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.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.804)
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 Texas State Library
within thirty (30) days of the initial designation or of taking up
the office, as applicable.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.805)
A records management committee consisting of the City Secretary,
finance director and City Attorney is hereby established. The committee
shall:
(1) Assist
the records management officer in the development of policies and
procedures governing the records management program;
(2) Review
the performance of the program on a regular basis and propose changes
and improvements if needed;
(3) Review
and approve records control schedules submitted by the records management
officer;
(4) Give
final approval to the destruction of records in accordance with approved
records control schedules; and
(5) Actively
support and promote the records management program throughout the
city.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.806)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, the records
management officer shall:
(1) Administer
the records management program and provide assistance to department
heads in its implementation;
(2) Plan,
formulate, and prescribe records disposition policies, systems, standards,
and procedures;
(3) In
cooperation with department heads, identify essential records and
establish a disaster plan for each city office and department to ensure
maximum availability of the records in order to reestablish operations
quickly and with minimum disruption and expense;
(4) Develop
procedures to ensure the permanent preservation of the historically
valuable records of the city;
(5) Establish
standards for filing and storage equipment and for recordkeeping supplies;
(6) Study
the feasibility of and, if appropriate, establish a uniform filing
system and a forms design and control system for the city;
(7) Provide
records management advice and assistance to all city departments by
preparation of a manual or manuals of procedure and policy and by
on-site consultation;
(8) Monitor
records retention schedules and administrative rules issued by the
Texas State Library and Archives Commission to determine if the records
management program and the city’s records control schedules
are in compliance with state regulations;
(9) Disseminate,
to the City Council and department heads, information concerning state
laws and administrative rules relating to local government records;
(10) Instruct records liaison officers and other personnel in policies
and procedures of the records management plan and their duties in
the records management program;
(11) Direct records liaison officers or other personnel in the conduct
of records inventories in preparation for the development of records
control schedules as required by state law and this article;
(12) Ensure that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, destruction,
or other disposition of city records is carried out in accordance
with the policies and procedures of the records management program
and the requirements of state law;
(13) Maintain records on the volume of records destroyed under approved
records control schedules, the volume of records microfilmed or stored
electronically, and the estimated cost and space savings as the result
of such disposal or disposition;
(14) Report annually to the City Council on the implementation of the records management plan in each department of the city, including summaries of the statistical and fiscal data compiled under subsection
(13) above; and
(15) Bring to the attention of the City Council noncompliance by department
heads or other city personnel with policies and procedures of the
records management program or the Local Government Records Act.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.808)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, department
heads shall:
(1) Cooperate
with the records management officer in carrying out the policies and
procedures established in the city for the efficient and economical
management of records and in carrying out the requirements of this
article;
(2) Adequately
document the transaction of government business and the services,
programs, and duties for which the department head and his or her
staff are responsible; and
(3) Maintain
the records in his or her care and carry out their preservation, microfilming,
destruction, or other disposition only in accordance with the policies
and procedures of the records management program of the city and the
requirements of this article.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.809)
Each department head shall designate a member of his or her
staff to serve as records liaison officer for the implementation of
the records management program in the department. If the records management
officer determines that in the best interests of the records management
program that more than one records liaison officer should be designated
for a department, the department head shall designate the number of
records liaison officers specified by the records management officer.
Persons designated as records liaison officers shall be thoroughly
familiar with all the records created and maintained by the department
and shall have full access to all records of the city maintained by
the department. In the event of the resignation, retirement, dismissal,
or removal by action of the department head of a person designated
as records liaison officer, the department head shall promptly designate
another person to fill the vacancy. A department head may serve as
records liaison officer for his or her department.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.810)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, records
liaison officers shall:
(1) Conduct
and supervise the conduct of inventories of the records of the department
in preparation for the development of records control schedules;
(2) In
cooperation with the records management officer, coordinate and implement
the policies and procedures of the records management program in their
departments; and
(3) Disseminate
information to department staff concerning the records management
program.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.811)
A record that has not yet been listed on an approved records
control schedule may be destroyed if its destruction has been approved
in the same manner as a record destroyed under an approved schedule
and the records management officer has submitted to and received back
from the director and librarian of the Texas State Library an approved
destruction authorization request.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.814)
A records center, developed pursuant to the plan required by section
1.07.007, shall be under the direct control and supervision of the records management officer. Policies and procedures regulating the operations and use of the records center shall be contained in the records management plan developed under section
1.07.007.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.815)
Unless a micrographics program in a department is specifically
exempted by order of the City Council, all microfilming of records
will be centralized and under the direct supervision of the records
management officer. The records management plan will establish policies
and procedures for the microfilming of city records, including policies
to ensure that all microfilming is done in accordance with standards
and procedures for the microfilming of local government records established
in rules of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The plan
will also establish criteria for determining the eligibility of records
for microfilming and protocols for ensuring that a microfilming program
that is exempted from the centralized operations is, nevertheless,
subject to periodic review by the records management officer as to
cost effectiveness, administrative efficiency, and compliance with
the rules of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
(1998 Code, sec. 1.816)