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 1991-3, sec. 1, adopted 2/25/91)
Active records.
Those records in current use which must be retained in offices because frequent reference is necessary in the conduct of day-to-day operations.
Department head.
The city secretary, who by administrative policy is in charge of creating and receiving records for the city.
Essential 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.
Inactive records.
Those records which are seldom referred to, but which must be retained, temporarily or permanently, because of legal, fiscal, administrative, or archival value.
Micrographics.
The art of reducing any form of information to a microform medium; also termed “microphotography” or “microfilming.”
Obsolete records.
Any records that are no longer created by the office and no longer needed for administrative, legal, fiscal, or other research purposes.
Permanent records.
Any records 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 liaison officer.
The person designated under section 1.07.008 of this article.
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.
Records management officer.
The person designated in section 1.07.005 of this article.
Records management plan.
The plan developed under section 1.07.006 of this article.
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 1991-3, sec. 2, adopted 2/25/91)
All city records as defined in section 1.07.001 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.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 3, adopted 2/25/91)
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 1991-3, sec. 4, adopted 2/25/91)
The 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.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 5, adopted 2/25/91)
(a) 
The records management officer 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, 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 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 1991-3, sec. 6, adopted 2/25/91)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, the records management officer shall:
(1) 
Administer the records management program;
(2) 
Plan, formulate, and prescribe records disposition policies, systems, standards, and procedures;
(3) 
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 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 of procedure and policy and by 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 information concerning state laws and administrative rules relating to local government records;
(10) 
Instruct the records liaison officer in policies and procedures of the records management plan and their duty in the records management program;
(11) 
Direct the records liaison officer 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 city [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 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 city personnel with the policies and procedures of the records management program or the Local Government Records Act.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 7, adopted 2/25/91)
The records management officer shall designate a member of his or her staff to serve as records liaison officer for the implementation of the records management program. The person designated as records liaison officer shall be thoroughly familiar with all the records created and maintained by the city and shall have full access to all records of the city. In the event of the resignation, retirement, dismissal, or removal by action of a person designated as records liaison officer, the records management officer shall promptly designate another person to fill the vacancy.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 8 adopted 2/25/91)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, the records liaison officer shall:
(1) 
Conduct or supervise the conduct of inventories of the records of the city 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 the city; and
(3) 
Disseminate information to the records management officer concerning the records management program.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 9, adopted 2/25/91)
(a) 
The records management officer, in cooperation with the records liaison officer, shall prepare records control schedules listing all records created or received by the city 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 records management program of the city.
(c) 
Before its adoption, a records control schedule or amended schedule for the city must be approved by the records management officer and the city attorney. Upon approval of the city attorney, the records control schedule or amended schedule shall be submitted to the city council for formal approval.
(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.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 10, adopted 2/25/91)
(a) 
A records control schedule for the city that has been approved and adopted under section 1.07.006 shall be implemented by the records management officer and records liaison officer 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 records liaison officer requests in writing to the records management officer 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 and the city attorney.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 11, adopted 2/25/91)
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.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 12, adopted 2/25/91)
(a) 
A records center 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 1.07.006.
(b) 
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 the state library, or be destroyed, at the time such action is designated on the approved records retention schedule. Such records shall not be maintained in current office files or equipment.
(Ordinance 1991-3, sec. 13, adopted 2/25/91)