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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
For the purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
All city records as defined in section
1-10-1 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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
The city manager or the city manager’s designee 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 (30) days of the initial designation
or of taking up the office as applicable.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
A records management committee consisting of the city attorney
and city secretary and other officers to be designated by the city
manager 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) Actively
support and promote the records management program throughout the
city.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
(a) The
records management officer and the records management committee shall
develop a records management plan for the city for submission to the
city. 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, the records management plan shall be binding
on all officers, departments, divisions, programs, commissions, bureaus,
boards, committees or similar entities of the city; and records shall
be created, maintained, stored, micro-filmed 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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
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 expenses;
(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 department by
preparation of a manual or manuals of procedure and policy and by
on-site consultation;
(8) Disseminate
to the city and department heads information concerning state laws
and administrative rules relating to local government records;
(9) Instruct
records liaison officers and other personnel in policies and procedures
of the records management plan and their duties in the records management
program;
(10) Ensure
that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, destruction or other
disposition of city is carried out in accordance with the polices
and procedures of the records management program and the requirements
of state law;
(11) Maintain
records on the volume of records destroyed under approved records
controls schedules, the volume of records microfilmed or stored electronically,
and the estimated cost and space savings as the result of such disposal
or disposition.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
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 (1) 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 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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
Appropriate records control schedules issued by the state library
and archives commission shall be adopted by the records management
officer for use in the city, as provided by law. Any destruction of
records of the city will be in accordance with these schedules and
the Local Government Records Act.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
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 records
control schedule and the records management officer has submitted
to and received back from the director and librarian an approved destruction
authorization request.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
A records center developed pursuant to the plan required by section
1-10-7 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
1-10-7.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)
Unless a micrographics program in a department is specifically
exempted by order of the city, 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 the
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.
(Ordinance 2006-52 adopted 9/26/06)