The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this division,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Any document, paper, letter, book, map, photograph, sound
or video recording, microfilm, magnetic tape, electronic medium, or
other information-recording medium, 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, including
an ordinance, or in the transaction of public business. The term “city
record” does not include the following:
Extra identical copies of documents created only for convenience
of reference or research by city officers or employees;
Notes, journals, diaries, and similar documents created by a
city officer or employee for the officer’s or employee’s
personal convenience;
Blank forms;
Stocks of publications;
Library and museum materials acquired solely for the purposes
of reference or display;
Copies of documents in any media furnished to members of the
public to which they are entitled under Texas Government Code sec.
552.001 et seq., or other state law; or
Any records, correspondence, notes, memoranda, or documents,
other than a final written agreement described by Texas Government
Code sec. 2009.054(c), associated with a matter conducted under an
alternative dispute resolution procedure in which personnel of a state
department or institution, local government, special district, or
other political subdivision of the state participated as a party,
facilitated as an impartial third party, or facilitated as the administrator
of a dispute resolution system or organization.
The officer who, by ordinance, order, or administrative policy,
is in charge of an office of the city that creates or receives records.
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.
Any city record for which the retention period on a records
control schedule is given as permanent.
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.
The persons designated under section 2-1038.
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 “records management” includes
the development of records control schedules; the management of filing
and information retrieval system; 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.
The person holding the position of city clerk.
The plan developed under section 2-1036.
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.
A record that has not yet been listed on a records control
schedule.
(1966 Code, secs. 2-241, 2-242; 2001 Code, sec. 2-1031)
The city records shall be created, maintained, and disposed
of in accordance with this division or procedures authorized by this
division, and in no other manner.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-241; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1032)
All city records, as defined in section 2-1032, are declared to be the property of the city. No city official or employee has, by virtue of his position, any personal or property right to such records even though the official or employee may have developed or compiled them. The unauthorized destruction, removal from files, or use of such records is prohibited.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-243; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1033)
It is declared to be the city’s policy 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, Texas
Local Government Code sec. 201.001 et seq., and accepted records management
practice.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-244; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1034)
(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 procedures designed to improve
the efficiency of recordkeeping, to adequately protect the essential
city records and to properly preserve those records of historical
value. The plan must be designed to enable the records management
officer to effectively carry out his duties prescribed by state law
and this division.
(b)
Once
approved by the city council, the records management plan shall be
binding on all city offices, departments, divisions, programs, commissions,
boards, committees, or similar city entities, 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 or the records in the department
head’s care from the application of this division and the records
management plan adopted under this division may not be used by the
department head as a basis for refusal to participate in the city’s
records management program.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-246; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1036)
In addition to other duties assigned in this division, 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 systems, standards, and
procedures.
(3)
In
cooperation with department heads, identify essential records and
establish a disaster plan for each city officer 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 city’s
historically valuable records.
(5)
Study
the feasibility of and, if appropriate, establish a uniform filing
system and a forms design and control system for the city.
(6)
Establish
standards for filing and storage equipment and for recordkeeping supplies.
(7)
Monitor
records retention schedules and administrative rules issued by the
state library and archives commission to determine if the records
management program and the city records control schedules are in compliance
with state regulations.
(8)
Disseminate
to the city council and department heads information concerning state
law and administrative rules relating to local government records.
(9)
Instruct
records liaison officers in procedures of the records management plan
and their duties in the records management program.
(10)
Instruct
records liaison officers in the conduct of records inventories in
preparation for the development of records control schedules as required
by state law and this division.
(11)
Ensure
that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, destruction, or
other disposition of the city records is carried out in accordance
with the procedures of the records management program and the requirements
of state law.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-247; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1037)
Each department head shall serve as records liaison officer
for the implementation and maintenance of the records management program
in his department. Records liaison officers shall be thoroughly familiar
with all the records created and maintained by the department and
shall have full access to all city records maintained by the department.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-248; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1038)
In addition to other duties assigned in this division, each
department head shall:
(1)
Cooperate
with the records management officer in carrying out the procedures
established in the city for the efficient and economical management
of records and in carrying out the requirements of this division;
(2)
Adequately
document the transaction of government business and the services,
programs, and duties for which the department head and his staff are
responsible;
(3)
Maintain
the records in his care and carry out their preservation, microfilming,
destruction, or other disposition only in accordance with the procedures
of the city’s records management program and the requirements
of this division;
(4)
Conduct
or supervise the conduct of inventories of the records of the department
in preparation for the development of records control schedules;
(5)
In
cooperation with the records management officer, coordinate and implement
the procedures of the records management program in his department;
and
(6)
Disseminate
information to department staff concerning the records management
program.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-249; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1039)
A city 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.
(1966 Code, sec. 2-250; 2001 Code,
sec. 2-1040)
