Department head
means the officer who by ordinance or administrative policy is in charge of an office of the town that creates or receives records.
Permanent record
means any record of the town for which the retention period on a records control schedule is given as permanent.
Record retention schedule
means a document prepared by or under the authority of the Records Management Officer listing the records maintained by the town, 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 vital 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 § 1.06.005 of this article.
Records management plan
means the plan developed under § 1.06.006 of 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.
Town record
means any document, paper, letter, book, map, photograph, sound or video recording, 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 town or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law, including an ordinance, or in the transaction of public business is hereby declared to be a record of the town, and such record shall be created, maintained, and disposed of in accordance with provisions of this article and procedures authorized by it.
Vital record
means any record of the town 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.
All town records as defined in this article are hereby declared to be property of the town. No town official or employee has, by virtue of his/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.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the town to provide for a records management program that will provide efficient, economical, and effective controls over the creation, distribution, organization, maintenance, use, and disposition of all town 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 practices.
The State Library and Archives Commission Local Government Retention Schedules, as they exist or may be amended, are hereby as the records retention schedules of the town. All records of the town shall be maintained and kept in accordance with this article and the records retention schedules.
The Town Secretary, and the successive holders of said office, or his/her designee, shall serve as Records Management Officer for the town. As provided by state law, each successive holder of the office shall file his/her name with the director and librarian of the state library within 30 days of the initial designation, or of taking up the office, as applicable.
(a) 
The Records Management Officer shall develop and implement a records management plan for the town for approval by the Town Manager. The plan must contain administrative policies and procedures designed to reduce the costs and improve the efficiency of recordkeeping, to adequately protect the vital records of the town, and to properly preserve those records of the town that are of historical value. The plan must be designed to enable the Records Management Officer to carry out his/her duties prescribed by state law and this article effectively.
(b) 
Once approved by the Town Manager, the records management plan shall be binding on all offices, departments, divisions, programs, commissions, boards, commissions, committees, or similar entities of the town, and records shall be created, maintained, stored, scanned, or disposed of in accordance with the plan.
In addition to other duties assigned in this article, the Records Management Officer shall have the following duties:
(1) 
Administer the records management plan and provide assistance to department heads in its implementation.
(2) 
Plan, formulate, and prescribe basic records management and records disposition policies, systems, standards, and procedures.
(3) 
In cooperation with town officials and department heads, identify vital and permanent records and establish a disaster plan for each town office and department to ensure maximum availability of records for reestablishing operations quickly and with minimum disruption and expense.
(4) 
Develop procedures to ensure the permanent preservation of the historically valuable records of the town.
(5) 
Monitor records retention schedules and administrative rules issued by the state library and archives commission to determine if the records management program is in compliance with state regulations.
(6) 
Disseminate to town officials and department heads information concerning state laws and administrative rules relating to local government records.
(7) 
Ensure that the maintenance, preservation, destruction, or other disposition of the records of the town are carried out in accordance with the policies and procedures of the records management program and the requirements of state law.
(8) 
Maintain records on the volume of records destroyed under approved record retention schedules.
(a) 
Cooperate with the Records Management Officer in carrying out the policies and procedures established by the town for the efficient and economical management of records and in carrying out the requirements of this article.
(b) 
Adequately document the transaction of government business and the services, programs, and duties for which the department head and his/her staff are responsible.
(c) 
Maintain the records in his/her care and carry out their preservation, destruction, or other disposition of records only in accordance with the policies and procedures of the records management plan of the town and the requirements of this article.
(d) 
Designate at least one qualified staff member in his/her department to serve as records liaison officer for the implementation of this article and other applicable town policies.
All requests received for records, and any fees or charges made therefor (including fees for research and all other fees authorized by state law), shall be handled by the Town Secretary or his/her designee in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act, V.T.C.A., Government Code, ch. 552, as it exists or may be amended. Any fees shall be collected by the Town Secretary, or his/her designee, prior to or upon the distribution of said records to members of the public.
A record whose retention period has expired on a record retention 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 law suit, or the department head requests in writing to the Records Management Officer that the record be retained for an additional period.
(Ordinance 2020-08, adopted 2/25/2020)