The governing body of the town does hereby establish and adopt
a management program for the orderly and efficient retention, retrieval
and destruction of the records of the town as follows in this article.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.01)
This article shall be known and may be cited as the records
management program of the town, providing for the proper and efficient
management of the municipal records of the town.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.02)
Since the citizens of the town have a right to expect efficient
and cost-effective government, and recognizing the importance of local
government records in the lives of all citizens, the efficient management
of town records is necessary to the effective and economic operation
of the town, the preservation of records of permanent value is necessary
to provide the people of the state with resources concerning their
history and to document their rights of citizenship and property,
and the establishment of uniform standards and procedures for the
maintenance, preservation or other disposition of town records is
necessary to fulfill the high public purpose.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.03)
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the town to provide
for efficient, economical, and effective controls over the creation,
distribution, organization, maintenance, use, and disposition of all
town 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, being Tex. Local Gov’t Code section 201.001 et
seq., and accepted records management practice.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.04)
For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall
apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning:
The state library and archives commission.
The appointed or elected public officer who by the state
constitution, state law, ordinance or administrative policy is in
charge of the office that creates or receives local government records.
For the purpose of this article, a custodian is a department head,
under the administration of the town manager, who is responsible for
all records in his or her department.(1998 Code, sec. 36.05; Ordinance
adopting Code)
The executive and administrative officer of the state library
and archives commission.
Any local government record necessary to the resumption or
continuation of government operations in an emergency or disaster,
to the re-creation of the legal and financial status of the town,
or to the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people
of the state.
The town council.
Any 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 local town government offices or any of its officers or employees
pursuant to law, including an ordinance, or in the transaction of
public business, are hereby declared to be records of the town and
shall be created, maintained and disposed of in accordance with the
provisions of this article and the provisions of the Texas Local Government
Records Act. This term does not include:
Extra identical copies of documents created only for convenience
of reference or research by officers or employees of the town.
Notes, journals, diaries, and similar documents created by an
officer or employee of the town for the employee’s personal
convenience.
Blank forms.
Stocks of publications.
Library and museum materials acquired solely for the purposes
of reference or display.
Copies of documents in any media furnished to members of the
public to which they are entitled under Tex. Gov’t Code section
552.001 et seq.
Any office, department, division, program, commission, bureau,
board, committee, or similar entity of the town.
A record of the town.
A document prepared by or under the authority of a records
management officer listing the records maintained by the town, their
retention periods, and other records disposition information that
the records management program in the town or state law may require.
The application of management techniques to the creation,
use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of records
for the purpose 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 electronic and other record storage systems.
A document issued by the commission establishing mandatory
retention periods for local government records.
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.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.05)
All town records as defined in section 1.08.005 of this article are hereby declared to be the property of the town. No town 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.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.06)
The town secretary, and the successive holders of said office,
shall serve as records management officer for the town. 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
30 days of the initial designation or of taking up the office, as
applicable.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.07)
(a)
The
records management officer will implement, but is not limited to,
a program to encompass such areas of records management as are required
to preserve and keep in order all books, papers, documents, records
and files of the town council and of the executive departments to
achieve the following goals:
(1)
Release space and reduce the need for storage and filing equipment;
(2)
Establish an efficient retrieval operation for both active and inactive
municipal records;
(3)
Provide for routine disposition of paperwork;
(4)
Maintain total security over municipal records;
(5)
Communicate the need of an effective records management program;
(6)
Secure a central records storage facility which can be operated and
maintained by records management staff.
(b)
Once
approved by the town council, the records management plan shall be
binding on all offices, departments, divisions, programs, commissions,
bureaus, boards, committees, or similar entities of the town and the
records shall be created, maintained, stored, or disposed of in accordance
with the plan.
(c)
State
law relating to the duties, other responsibilities, or recordkeeping
requirements of a custodian do not exempt the custodian or the records
in the custodian’s care from the application of this article
and the records management plan adopted under it and may not be used
by the custodian as a basis for refusal to participate in the records
management program of the town.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.08)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, the records
management officer shall:
(1)
Administer
the records management program and provide assistance to custodians
in its implementation;
(2)
Plan,
formulate, and prescribe records disposition policies, systems, standards,
and procedures;
(3)
In
cooperation with custodians, identify essential records and establish
a disaster plan for each town 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 town;
(5)
Establish
standards for filing and storage equipment and for recordkeeping supplies;
(6)
Establish
a uniform filing system and a forms design and control system for
the town;
(7)
Provide
records management advice and assistance to all town 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 town’s records control schedules
are in compliance with state regulations;
(9)
Disseminate
to the town and custodians information concerning state laws and administrative
rules relating to local government records;
(10)
Ensure that the maintenance, preservation, destruction or other disposition
of the town [records] is carried out in accordance with the policies
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 control schedules, the volume of records stored electronically,
and the estimated cost and space savings as the result of such disposal
or disposition;
(12)
Report annually to the town council on the implementation of the
records management program;
(13)
Bring to the attention of the town council noncompliance by custodians
or other personnel with the policies and procedures of the records
management program or the Texas Local Government Records Act.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.09; Ordinance
adopting Code)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, custodians
shall:
(1)
Cooperate
with the records management officer in carrying out the policies and
procedures established in the town 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 custodian and his or her staff
are responsible;
(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 town and the requirements
of this article.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.10)
The town council shall:
(1)
Establish,
promote and support an active and continuing program for the efficient
and economical management of all town records;
(2)
Cause
policies and procedures to be developed for the administration of
the program under the direction of the records management officer;
(3)
Facilitate
the creation and maintenance of town records containing adequate and
proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions,
procedures, and essential transactions of the town and designed to
furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial
rights of the town, the state and persons affected by the activities
of town government;
(4)
Facilitate
the identification and preservation of town records that are of permanent
value;
(5)
Facilitate
the identification and protection of essential town records;
(6)
Cooperate
with the commission in its conduct of statewide records management
surveys;
(7)
Review
of a records control schedule or amended schedule by the officers
of the town as it considers necessary.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.11)
(a)
The
records management officer, in cooperation with custodians, shall
prepare records control schedules listing all records created or received
by the custodians and the retention period for each record. Records
control schedules shall also contain such other information regarding
the disposition of the town 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 town.
(c)
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.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.12)
(a)
A
records control schedule for a department that has been approved and
adopted shall be implemented 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 custodian 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 from the commission
by the records management officer.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.13)
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.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.14)
(a)
Electronic storage.
Source document.
For
the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply
unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
The maintenance of local government record data in the form
of digital electronic signals on a computer hard disk, magnetic tape,
optical disk, or similar machine-readable medium.
The local government record from which local government record
data is obtained for electronic storage. The term does not include
backup copies of the data in any media generated from electronic storage.
(b)
Any
town record data may be stored electronically in addition to or instead
of source documents in paper or other media, subject to the requirements
of the Texas Local Government Records Act and rules adopted under
it.
(c)
The
town will be subject to rules established by the commission for standards
and procedures for electronic storage and will be subject to the provisions
of Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code section 205.001 et seq.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.15)
Upon the adoption of this article, the town secretary is directed
to file with the director and librarian within 30 days the name and
office of the records management officer of the town and a copy of
this article which establishes the records management program of the
town.
(1998 Code, sec. 36.16)
