The city council hereby designates the city secretary as the
public information coordinator for the purposes of receiving training
on the Public Information Act.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.2101)
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
of in accordance with the provisions of this division or procedures
authorized by it and in no other manner.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1901)
Any record of the city necessary to the resumption or continuation
of its operations 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 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 micrographics and electronic and other records storage systems.
The person designated in section 1.10.035 of this division.
The plan developed under section 1.10.036 of this division.
The officer who by ordinance or administrative policy is
in charge of the office of the city that creates or receives 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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1902)
All municipal records as defined in section 1.10.031 of this division are hereby declared to be the 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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1903)
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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1904)
The city manager, 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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1905)
(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 municipality, and to properly preserve those records of the
municipality 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 division 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, responsibilities, or recordkeeping requirements
of a department do not exempt said department from applying to its
records this division and the records management plan adopted under
it and may not be used by a department as a basis for refusal to participate
in the records management program of the city.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1906)
In addition to other duties assigned in this division, the records
management officer shall:
(1)
Administer
the records management program and provide assistance to departments
in its implementation;
(2)
Plan,
formulate, and prescribe records disposition policies, systems, standards,
and procedures;
(3)
In
cooperation with city departments, 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 municipality’s records control schedules
are in compliance with state regulations;
(8)
Disseminate
to the city council and departments information concerning state laws
and administrative rules relating to local government 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
requests, the volume of records microfilmed or stored electronically,
and the estimated cost and space savings as the result of such disposal
or disposition.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1907)
In addition to other duties assigned in this division, departments
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
division;
(2)
Adequately
document the transaction of government business and the services,
programs, and duties for which the department is responsible; and
(3)
Maintain
with care records 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 division.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1908)
(a)
The
records management officer, in cooperation with departments, 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 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 city.
(c)
Before
its adoption, a records control schedule or amended schedule must
be approved by the affected department and the city council.
(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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1909)
(a)
A records control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under section 1.10.039 shall be implemented by departments 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 a department 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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1910)
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.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1911)
Whenever a violation of this division occurs, or is alleged
to have occurred, any person may file a written complaint. Such complaint,
stating fully the causes and basis thereof, shall be filed with the
city secretary. The city secretary shall record properly such complaint,
immediately investigate, and take action thereon as provided by this
division.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1912)
(a)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this division shall, upon conviction, be fined in accordance with the general penalty provision found in section 1.01.009 of this code, and each and every day that the provisions of this division are violated shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(b)
In
addition to the penalty provided for, the right is hereby conferred
and extended upon any property owner owning property in any district,
where such property owner may be affected or invaded by a violation
of the terms of this division, to bring suit in such court or courts
having jurisdiction thereof and obtain such remedies as may be available
at law and equity in the protection of the rights of such property
owners.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1913)
In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this
division shall be held to be minimum requirements adopted for the
promotion of the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.
Whenever the requirements of this division are at variance with the
requirements of any other lawfully adopted rules, regulations, ordinances,
deed restrictions, or covenants, the most restrictive or that imposing
the higher standards shall govern.
(2001 Code, sec. 1.1914)
