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 them 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
in accordance with the provisions of this article or procedures authorized
by it and no other manner.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-66)
Any officer who by ordinance or administrative policy is
in charge of an office of the city that creates or receives records.
Any record of the city necessary to the resumption or continuation
of its operation in an emergency or disaster, to the re-creation of
its legal and financial status, or to the protection and fulfillment
of obligations to the people of the state.
Any record of the city for which the retention period on
a records control schedule is given as permanent.
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.
The application of management techniques to the creation,
use, maintenance, retention, preservation and disposal of records
for the purposes of reducing the cost 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.
The person designated in section 1.06.005 of this article.
The plan developed under section 1.06.006 of this article.
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.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-67)
All city records defined in section 1.06.001 are hereby declared to be public property of the city. No municipal 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.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-68)
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the city to provide
efficient, economical and effective controls over the creation, distribution,
organization, maintenance, use and disposition of all municipal records
through a comprehensive system of integrated procedures for their
management from creation to ultimate disposition, consistent with
the requirements of the Texas Local Government Records Act and accepted
records management practice.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-69)
The city secretary, and successive holders of said office, shall
serve as the 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 of taking up the office, as
applicable.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-70; Ordinance
adopting Code)
(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 designated 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 other 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.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-71)
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 departmental heads identify essential records and
establish a disaster plan for each municipal 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)
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 record control schedules are
in compliance with state regulations;
(8)
Disseminate
to the city council and department heads information concerning state
laws and administrative rules relating to local records;
(9)
Ensure
that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, 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;
(10)
Maintain records on the volume of records destroyed under approved
records control schedules or through records destruction authorization
request, the volume of records microfilmed or stored electronically,
and estimated cost and space savings as the result of such disposal
or disposition;
(11)
Report annually to the city council on the implementation of the records management plan in each department of the city, including summaries of the statistical and financial data compiled under subsection (10); and
(12)
Bring to the attention of the city council noncompliance by department
heads or other municipal personnel with the policies and procedures
of the records management program or Local Government Records Act.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-72)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, the 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.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-73)
(a)
The
records management officer, in cooperation with department heads,
shall prepare records control schedules on a department by department
basis listing all records series created or received by the department
and the retention period for each series. Records control schedules
shall also contain such other information regarding the disposition
of municipal 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 by the state
and that it continues to reflect the recordkeeping 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 council.
(d)
Before
its adoption a records control schedule must be submitted and accepted
for filing by the director and librarian as provided by state law.
If a schedule is not accepted for filing, the schedule must be amended
to make it acceptable for filing. The records management officer shall
submit the records control schedules to the director and the librarian.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-74)
(a)
A records control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under section 1.06.009 shall be implemented by department heads according to 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 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 council.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-75)
A record that has not yet been listed on the 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.
(1995 Code, sec. 2-76)
