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 article or procedures authorized by it and in no other manner.
(Ordinance 154, sec. 1, adopted 10/14/91)
Department head.
The officer who by ordinance 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 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.
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.
Records management officer.
The person designated in section 1.04.005 of this article.
Records management plan.
The plan developed under section 1.04.006 of this article.
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.
(Ordinance 154, sec. 2, adopted 10/14/91)
All municipal records as defined in section 1.04.001 of this article 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.
(Ordinance 154, sec. 3, adopted 10/14/91)
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 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.
(Ordinance 154, sec. 4, adopted 10/14/91)
The city secretary, 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 days of the initial designation or of taking up the office, as applicable.
(Ordinance 154, sec. 5, adopted 10/14/91)
(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 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 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.
(Ordinance 154, sec. 6, adopted 10/14/91)
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 municipal office and department to ensure maximum availability of the records in order to re-establish operations quickly and with minimum disruption and expense;
(4) 
Develop procedures to ensure the permanent preservation of the city [records];
(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 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 department heads 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;
(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 fiscal 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 the Local Government Records Act.
(Ordinance 154, sec. 7, adopted 10/14/91)