[1]
Editor’s note–Ordinance 549, adopted Mar. 18,
1991, amended the Code by adding secs. 2-1–2-13. For purposes
of classification, provisions originally designated by the ordinance
as secs. 2-1– 2-12 have been renumbered as 2-21–2-32 at
the editor’s discretion. Provisions originally designated as
sec. 2-13 by the ordinance pertained to the effective date of such
ordinance and have not been included herein.
All documents, papers, letters, books, maps, photographs, sound
or video recordings, 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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
means the officer who by ordinance, order, or administrative
policy is in charge of an office of the city that creates or receives
records.
means 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.
means any record of the city for which the retention period
on a records control schedule is given as permanent.
means 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.
preservation, and disposal of records for the purposes of
reducing the costs and improving the efficiency of record keeping.
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 electronic
and other records storage systems.
means the person designated in section 2-25 of this article.
means the plan developed under section 2-26 of this article.
means 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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
All city records as defined in section 2-21 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 dispose of 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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
The city manager shall designate an individual, employed by
the city, to serve as records management officer for the city. In
the event of the resignation, retirement, dismissal, or removal by
action of the city manager or the board of city commissioners of the
individual so designated, the city manager shall promptly designate
another individual to serve as records management officer. The individual
designated as records management officer shall file his or her name
with the director and librarian of the Texas State Library within
30 days of the date of designation, as provided by state law.
(Ordinance 549 adopted 3/18/91)
(a)
The records
management officer shall develop a records management plan for the
city for submission to the city manager. The plan must contain policies
and procedures designed to reduce the costs and improve the efficiency
of record keeping, 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 board of city commissioners 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, or disposed
of in accordance with the plan.
(c)
State
law relating to the duties, other responsibilities, or record keeping
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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
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 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 record keeping
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 policy and by on-site consultation;
(8)
Monitor
records retention schedules and administrative rules issued by the
Texas 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 manager, board of city commissioners and department heads
information concerning state laws and administrative rules relating
to local government records;
(10)
Instruct
personnel in policies and procedures of the records management plan
and their duties in the records management program;
(11)
Direct
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, destruction, or other disposition
of the records of the city are 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, and the estimated cost and space savings as the
result of such disposal or disposition;
(14)
Report annually to the city manager and the city manager will then report to the board of city commissioners 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 manager noncompliance by department heads
or other city personnel with the policies and procedures of the records
management program of the Local Government Records Act.
(Ordinance 549 adopted 3/18/91)
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, 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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
(a)
The records
management officer, in cooperation with department heads, 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 the 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 record keeping 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 city manager.
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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
(a)
A record control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under section 2-26 shall be implemented by department heads 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 law suit,
or the department head 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 from the city manager.
(Ordinance 549 adopted 3/18/91)
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 549 adopted 3/18/91)
Any records center, developed pursuant to the plan required by section 2-26, shall be under the direct control and supervision of the records management officer. Policies and procedures regulating the operations and use of a records center shall be contained in the records management plan developed under section 2-26.
(Ordinance 549 adopted 3/18/91)
