For the purpose of this article, the following definition shall apply, unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
City records.
(1) 
All paper, correspondence, memoranda, accounts, reports, maps, plans, photographs, sound and video recordings, files, microform, magnetic or paper tape, punched cards or other documents, regardless of physical form or characteristic, which have been or shall be created, received, filed or recorded by any city office or department, its lawful successor or officials thereof, in pursuance of law or ordinance or in the conduct, transaction or performance of any business, duty or function of public business, whether or not confidential or restricted in use, are hereby declared to be 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 or [no] other manner.
(2) 
Library and museum materials acquired solely for reference, exhibit or display and stocks of publications shall not constitute records for purposes of this article.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.01)
(a) 
All city records, as defined in section 1.05.001, are hereby declared to be property of the city. No city official or employee has, by virtue of his or her position, any personal or property right to the records, even though he or she may have developed or compiled them.
(b) 
The unauthorized destruction, removal from files or use of the records is prohibited.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.02)
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.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.03)
(a) 
The city secretary shall be designated as the records manager of the city, who shall administer the records management program and shall be responsible for citywide files management and the direction and control of the city’s records disposition program.
(b) 
The records manager shall have the following duties:
(1) 
Plan, formulate and prescribe basic files management and records disposition policies, systems, standards and procedures;
(2) 
Prepare records retention and disposition schedules in cooperation with department heads for all city offices and departments, define and identify vital and permanent records and establish retention periods for all records (retention periods shall be no shorter than desired by the originating office, but shall be as long as deemed necessary by either the records manager, the city attorney or the city finance officer);
(3) 
Review schedules annually and update or amend as needed;
(4) 
Coordinate the city-wide files management and records disposition programs and report annually to the city administrator on program effectiveness in each city department;
(5) 
Provide records management advice and assistance to all city offices and departments, by preparation of manuals of procedures and policies and by on-site consultation;
(6) 
Develop, disseminate and coordinate files maintenance and records disposition procedures, including but not limited to those prescribed by this article, to meet the current and long-term information needs of the city;
(7) 
Train departmental records officers and other personnel in the fundamentals of records management and their duties in the records management program;
(8) 
Carry out, at the proper time, actions such as microphotography, destruction and transfers that are required by records schedules;
(9) 
Design and manage the operation of a records center for the low-cost storage of inactive records and as a facility for a centralized micrographic program;
(10) 
Establish and monitor compliance with standards for filing and storage equipment and supplies in all city offices and departments, and report to the city administrator any failure of any officer or department to comply with the standards; keep careful records of savings in equipment, supplies and staff costs realized by each department of the city through implementation of the records management program; and report annually the cost savings to the city administrator (the report shall include the amount of storage space and equipment released for other uses);
(11) 
Develop a city-wide forms design and control system;
(12) 
Establish, in cooperation with other responsible city officials, a disaster plan for each city office and department to insure maximum availability of records for reestablishing operations quickly and with minimum disruption and expense;
(13) 
Develop procedures to insure the permanent preservation of the historically valuable records of the city;
(14) 
Protect privacy and assure availability of public information from records stored in the records center, and bring to the attention to the city administrator any office not in compliance with laws or ordinances regarding public access to information or protection of privacy; and
(15) 
Prepare and submit annually to the city administrator the budget requirements of the records management office to enable it to fulfill the records management goals of the city.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.04)
All city office and department heads are responsible for the implementation and operation of effective files operations, records transfers and dispositions and other activities in accordance with the provisions of this article within their areas of responsibility. They shall designate records officers within their offices and provide the records manager the names of the designees and of all file stations and files custodians under their supervision. Persons designated as records officers shall report directly to the head of their department on matters relating to the records management program and should have full access to all files in their department.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.05)
The records officer in each office and department is responsible for providing coordination between the records manager and personnel in his or her office to ensure that provisions of this article are complied with. This responsibility shall include overseeing the application of records schedules within the office or department.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.06)
All city offices and departments shall adopt records retention and disposition schedules and destroy, transfer or otherwise dispose of records only according to the schedules.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.07)
(a) 
Retention periods to be included in records schedules shall be submitted by the records manager to the city finance office and city attorney, who shall notify the records manager within ten working days of his or her approval or of any objection to a retention period. At the expiration of the ten-day period, if no objection has been submitted, the records schedule shall be adopted and shall have full force as sufficient authorization for records destruction or other action. If objection is made, the records manager shall determine a retention period satisfactory to the office or department concerned [and submit such determination] to the finance officer and to the city attorney.
(b) 
When a records retention disposition schedule is adopted, it shall thenceforth constitute full authority to destroy, transfer, microphotograph or take other actions, and the city council hereby directs that such action be taken by the records manager or under his or her supervision. The records manager shall notify the state librarian of intended destruction, as required by law, but no further notice to the city council or other city office shall be required.
(c) 
Revision of retention periods shall be submitted for review to the city attorney and city finance office in the same manner as the original retention periods.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.08)
(a) 
Prior to adoption of records schedules for an office, one-time destruction of accumulated obsolete records of that office may be made by or under the supervision of the records manager.
(b) 
Prior to the destruction of the records, the records manager shall submit lists of records to be destroyed to the city finance officer and the city attorney, who shall give notice, within ten working days, of any records they believe should not be destroyed, and the records shall be retained for a period suggested by either. The records manager shall also submit notice as required by law to the state librarian.
(c) 
Obsolete records shall include those no longer created by the office or department and no longer needed for administrative, legal, fiscal or other research purposes.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.09)
The records center operation shall utilize one or more buildings to store inactive records; to insure the security of the records from deterioration, theft or damage during the period of storage; to permit fast, efficient retrieval of information from stored records; and to provide facilities for a centralized micrographics program.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.10)
(a) 
(1) 
The records manager shall develop procedures to insure the permanent preservation of the historically valuable records of the city.
(2) 
The records manager shall provide housing under archival conditions for the records in the records center or in another municipal facility and in a manner that the records, unless their use is restricted by law or regulation, are open to the public for research purposes.
(3) 
If city-owned facilities are not available, the records manager shall arrange for the transfer of the records to the state library for perpetual care and preservation in one of its nearby regional historical resource depositories or shall make other arrangements for their permanent preservation not contrary to law or regulation.
(b) 
In no circumstances shall the permanent records of the city be transferred to private individuals, to private historical societies or museums or to private colleges or universities.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.11)
Records no longer required in the conduct of current business by any office of the city shall be promptly transferred to the records center or archives or the state library, or be destroyed at the time the action is designated on an approved records schedule. The records shall not be maintained in current office files or equipment.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.12)
(a) 
(1) 
A centralized micrographics program shall be designed and implemented by the records manager to serve all city offices and departments.
(2) 
No office or department shall operate a separate micrographics program, and no city funds may be expended to film, or to contract with a service company to film, any city records, except through the records management office.
(b) 
(1) 
The records manager shall determine how long the various records of the city could be stored before the cost of storage during their retention periods would exceed the cost of preserving them in microform.
(2) 
In making this determination, the records manager shall compare long-term lease of low-cost storage facilities, in addition to or in place of any records storage building operated by the city, with the cost of microphotography. In calculating comparative costs, the records manager shall consider document preparation and refiling time of staff and other indirect costs of micrographics, as well as the cost of separate archival storage for master negatives of microform.
(3) 
Records determined to be more economically stored on microform shall be microphotographed, and in addition the records manager shall include the following types of records in the micrographics program:
(A) 
Those which the records manager determines are of historical value and whose preservation is best insured by microphotographing the records on archival quality film;
(B) 
Those which, because of the nature of the information they contain, are indispensable to the continued operations of an office and therefore should be microphotographed to provide a security copy; and
(C) 
Those which because of high volume use require frequent and/or large numbers of copies to be made which could be made most efficiently or economically through microfilm.
(c) 
(1) 
Microfilm used for archival or security purposes, as outlined in this section, must meet the technical standards for quality, density, resolution and definition of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), formerly the United States of America Standards Institute, as required by law. The master negatives of the film shall not be used for making copies and shall be stored off-site under the environmental and security standards of ANSI.
(2) 
Microfilm records must be indexed.
(3) 
The records manager or an authorized deputy shall check and certify that a microform record is a true and accurate duplication of the original record and shall cause to be included as part of the microform record certification images to that effect.
(d) 
The public is hereby given identical access to records on microform to which they would be entitled under law if the records were in any other medium.
(2004 Code, sec. 32.13)