For the purpose of this division, the following definitions
shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning:
Department head.
The officer who by ordinance, order, or administrative policy
is in charge of an office of the city that creates or receives records.
Essential record.
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.
Municipal records.
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 division or procedures
authorized by it and in no other manner.
Permanent record.
Any record 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 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.
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.
(1997 Code, sec. 31.01)
All municipal records as defined in section
1.02.031 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.
(1997 Code, sec. 31.02)
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
municipal 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.
(1997 Code, sec. 31.03)
A records management committee consisting of the mayor, the
mayor pro tem, the city treasurer, the municipal judge, and the city
attorney is hereby established. The committee shall:
(1) Assist
the records management officer in the development of policies and
procedures governing the records management program;
(2) Review
the performance of the program on a regular basis and propose changes
and improvements if needed;
(3) Review
and approve records control schedules submitted by the records management
officer;
(4) Give
final approval to the destruction of records in accordance with approved
records control schedules; and
(5) Actively
support and promote the records management program throughout the
city.
(1997 Code, sec. 31.05)
In addition to other duties assigned in this division, 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
division;
(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 division.
(1997 Code, sec. 31.07)
A record that has not been listed on a 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.
(1997 Code, sec. 31.11)
A records center, developed pursuant to the plan required by section
1.02.036, 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
1.02.036.
(1997 Code, sec. 31.12)