“Municipal records” means 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 them 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.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 1,
adopted 8/26/13)
The following words and phrases shall have the below definitions
for purposes of this article:
Department head.
The officer who by ordinance 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 its operations in an emergency or disaster, to the re-creation
of its legal and financial status, 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.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 2,
adopted 8/26/13)
All municipal records are hereby declared to be the property
of the city. No municipal official or employee has, by virtue of his
or her position, any personal or property right to municipal records
even though he or she may have developed or compiled them. The unauthorized
destruction, removal from files, or use of municipal records is prohibited.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 3,
adopted 8/26/13)
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
municipal records through a comprehensive system of integrated procedures
for their management from creation to ultimate disposition, consistent
with the requirements of the Texas Local Government Records Act and
city policy.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 4,
adopted 8/26/13)
The city secretary 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 days of the initial designation
or of taking up the office, as applicable.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 5,
adopted 8/26/13)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, the records
management officer shall:
(1) In
cooperation with department heads identify essential records and establish
a disaster plan for each municipal office and department to ensure
maximum availability of the records in order to re-establish operations
quickly and with minimum disruption and expense;
(2) Monitor
records retention schedules and administrative rules issued by the
state library and archives commission to determine if the records
management procedures and the city's records control schedules are
in compliance with state regulations;
(3) Disseminate
to the city council and department heads information concerning state
laws and administrative rules relating to municipal records;
(4) Ensure
that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, destruction, or
other disposition of the municipal records of the city are carried
out in accordance with the policies and the requirements of state
law; and
(5) Bring
to the attention of the city council noncompliance by department heads
or other municipal personnel with this article or the Local Government
Records Act.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 6,
adopted 8/26/13)
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 municipal records and in carrying out the requirements
of this article; and
(2) Maintain
the municipal records in his or her care and carry out their preservation,
microfilming, destruction, or other disposition only in accordance
with the policies of the city and the requirements of this article.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 7,
adopted 8/26/13)
(a) The
records control schedules issued by the state library and archives
commission and filed by the records management officer in a declaration
of compliance are hereby adopted by the city and shall be followed
by the records management officer for use in city.
(b) 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 2013-08-26-01, sec. 8,
adopted 8/26/13)
(a) A records control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under section
1.07.008 shall be implemented by department heads according to the policies and procedures of this article and policies and schedules adopted hereunder. If deemed appropriate by the records management officer, multiple departments may have the same records control schedule.
(b) A
record whose retention period has expired on a records control schedule
shall be destroyed unless an open records request is pending on the
record, the subject matter of the record is pertinent to a pending
law suit, or a department head, the mayor or a city council member
requests in writing to the records management officer that the record
be retained for an additional period.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 9,
adopted 8/26/13)
A municipal 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 an approved destruction authorization
request.
(Ordinance 2013-08-26-01, sec. 10,
adopted 8/26/13)