All documents, papers, letters, 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 article or procedures authorized by it and in no other manner.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-31)
Department head
means the officer who by ordinance, order or administrative policy is in charge of a department of the city that creates or receives records.
Essential record
means 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.
Permanent record
means any record of the city for which the retention period on a records control schedule is given as permanent.
Records control schedule
means 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
means 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
means the person designated in this article.
Records management plan
means the plan developed under this article.
Retention period
means 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 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-32)
All records defined above are hereby declared to be the property of the city. No 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 of records is prohibited.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-33)
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 home rule municipality 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.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-34)
The office of 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 (30) days of the initial designation or of taking up the office, as applicable.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-35)
(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 home rule municipality, and to properly preserve those records of the home rule 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 and stored [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 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-36)
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 city officer 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) 
Provide records management advice and assistance to all home rule municipality 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 home rule municipality’s records control schedules are in compliance with state regulations;
(9) 
Disseminate to the city council and department heads information concerning state laws and administrative rules relating to local government records;
(10) 
Instruct other personnel in policies and procedures of the records management plan and their duties in the records management program;
(11) 
Direct other personnel in the conduct of records inventories in preparation for the development of records control schedules as required by state law and this article;
(12) 
Ensure that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, destruction, or other disposition of home rule municipality [records] is carried out in accordance with the policies and procedures of the records management program and the requirements of state law;
(13) 
Maintain records on the volume of records destroyed under approved records control schedules, the volume of records microfilmed or stored electronically, and the estimated cost and space savings as the result of such disposal or disposition;
(14) 
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 (13) above; and
(15) 
Bring to the attention of the city council noncompliance by department heads or other city personnel with the policies and procedures of the records management program or the Local Government Records Act.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-37)
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, 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.
(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.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-38)
(a) 
The records management officer, in cooperation with department heads, shall prepare records control schedules on a department-by-department basis listing all records created or received by the department and the retention period for each record. Records control schedules shall also contain such other information regarding the disposition of home rule municipality 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 for a department must be approved by the department head.
(d) 
Before its adoption, a records control schedule or amended schedule must be submitted 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 schedule to the director and librarian.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-39; Ordinance adopting 2023 Code)
(a) 
A records control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under section 2.06.006 shall be implemented by department heads 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 department head requests in writing that the record be retained for an additional period.
(c) 
Prior to the destruction of a record under an approved records schedule, authorization for the destruction must be obtained by the records management officer.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-40; Ordinance adopting 2023 Code)
A record that has not 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.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-41)
A records center, developed pursuant to the plan required by section 2.06.006, 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 2.06.006.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-42)
Unless a micrographics program in a department is specifically exempted by order of the city council, all microfilming of records will be centralized and under the direct supervision of the records management officer. The records management plan will establish policies and procedures for the microfilming of home rule municipality records, including policies to ensure that all microfilming is done in accordance with standards and procedures for the microfilming of local government records established in rules of the state library and archives commission. The plan will also establish criteria for determining the eligibility of records for microfilming, and protocols for ensuring that a microfilming program that is exempted from the centralized operations is, nevertheless, subject to periodic review by the records management officer as to cost-effectiveness, administrative efficiency and compliance with commission rules.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-43)
The penalty for violation of this article shall be in accordance with the general penalty provisions contained in section 1.01.009 of the city code.
(Ordinance 915 adopted 12/27/90; 1972 Code, sec. 2-46; Ordinance adopting 2023 Code)