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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:A)
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 record of the city 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 1.10.010 of this article.
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.
The committee established in section 1.10.006 of this article.
The person designated in section 1.10.005 of this article.
The plan developed under section 1.10.007 of this article.
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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:B)
All municipal records as defined in section 1.10.001 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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:C)
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 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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:D)
The assistant 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 thirty days of the initial designation or of taking
up the office, as applicable.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:E)
A records management committee consisting of the mayor, city
manager, 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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:F)
(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 designed
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, sorted, 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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:G)
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 re-establish 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
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 municipal 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); and
(15)
Bring to the attention of the city council noncompliance by department
heads or other city personnel with the policies and procedures of
the records management program or the Local Government Records Act.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:H)
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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:I)
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 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 officer 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 a 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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:J)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, records
liaison officers shall:
(1)
Conduct
or 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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:K)
(a)
The
records management officer, in cooperation with department heads and
records liaison officers, 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 department head and the members
of the records management committee. Approval of the schedule is by
majority vote. The records management committee must meet and take
action within ten (10) calendar days from day of submittal to the
committee. In the event no action is taken by the committee within
this period, the schedule is automatically adopted.
(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 of the state library.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:L)
(a)
A records control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under section 1.10.007 shall be implemented by department heads and records liaison officers 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 records request is 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.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:M)
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 an approved destruction authorization
request.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:N)
A records center, developed pursuant to the plan required by section 1.10.007, 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 1.10.007.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:O)
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 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
commission rules.
(1986 Code, ch. 1, sec. 15:P)
