The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this division, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Department head
means 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
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 the obligations to the people of the state.
Local government record
means all documents, papers, letters, books, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings, microfilm, magnetic tape, electronic medium, or other information recording medium, 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. The term "local government record" does not include:
(1) 
Extra identical copies of documents created only for convenience of reference or research by officers or employees of the local government;
(2) 
Notes, journals, diaries, and similar documents created by an officer or employee of the local government for the officer's or employee's personal convenience;
(3) 
Blank forms;
(4) 
Stocks of publications;
(5) 
Library and museum materials acquired solely for the purposes of reference or display;
(6) 
Copies of documents in any media furnished to members of the public to which they are entitled under V.T.C.A., Local Government Code ch. 552 or other state law; or
(7) 
Any records, correspondence, notes, memoranda, or documents, other than a final written agreement described by V.T.C.A., Government Code § 2009.054(c), associated with a matter conducted under an alternative dispute resolution procedure in which personnel of a state department or institution, local government, special district, or other political subdivision of the state participated as a party, facilitated as an impartial third party, or facilitated as the administrator of a dispute resolution system or organization.
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 liaison officer
means the person designated under section 2-507.
Records management
means the application of management techniques to the creation, use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of records for the purposes of reducing costs and improving the efficiency of recordkeeping. The term "records management" includes the development of records control schedules, the management of filing and information retrieval systems, the protection of essential 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 section 2-502.
Records management plan
means the plan developed under section 2-503.
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 508, §§ 1, 2, adopted 8/7/2007)
All city records as defined in section 2-499 are hereby declared to be the property of the city. No city official or employee has, by virtue of his position, any personal or property right to such records even though he may have developed or compiled them. The unauthorized destruction, removal from files, or use of such records is prohibited.
(Ordinance 508, § 3, adopted 8/7/2007)
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 city 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 508, § 4, adopted 8/7/2007)
The city manager shall designate a records management officer for the city. As provided by state law, the holder of this designation shall file his name with director and librarian of the state library within 30 days of the initial designation or of taking up the office, as applicable.
(Ordinance 508, § 5, adopted 8/7/2007)
(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 city, and to properly preserve those records of the city that are of historical value. The plan must be designed to enable the records management officer to carry out his 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, other responsibilities, of recordkeeping requirements of a department head do not exempt the department head or the records in the departments head's care from the application of this division 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 508, § 6, adopted 8/7/2007)
In addition to other duties assigned in this division, 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 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) 
Provide records management advice and assistance to all city 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 city's record control schedules are in compliance with state regulation;
(9) 
Disseminate to the city council and department heads information concerning state laws and administrative rules relating to local government records;
(10) 
Instruct records liaison officers and other personnel in policies and procedures of the records management plan and their duties in the records management program;
(11) 
Direct record liaison officers or other personnel in the conduct of records inventories in preparation for the development of records control schedules as required by state law and this division;
(12) 
Ensure that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, destruction, or other disposition of the city 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 complied under subsection (13) of this section;
(15) 
Bring to the attention of the city manager 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 508, § 7, adopted 8/7/2007)
In addition to other duties assigned in the 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 staff are responsible;
(3) 
Maintain the records in his 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.
(Ordinance 508, § 8, adopted 8/7/2007)
Each department head shall designate a member of his staff to serve as records liaison officer for the implementation of the records management program in the department. If the records management officer determines that in the best interests of the records management program more than one records liaison officer should be designated for a department, the department head shall designate the number of records liaison officer specified by the records management officer. Persons designated as records liaison officers shall be thoroughly familiar with all the records created and maintained by the department and shall have full access to all records of the city maintained by the department. In the event of the resignation, retirement, dismissal, or removal by action of the department head of a person designated as a records liaison officer, the department head shall promptly designate another person to fill the vacancy. A department head may serve as records liaison officer for his department.
(Ordinance 508, § 9, adopted 8/7/2007)
In addition to other duties assigned in this division, records liaison officers shall:
(1) 
Conduct or supervise the conduct of inventories of the records of the department in preparation for the development of records control schedules;
(2) 
In cooperation with the records management officer, coordinate and implement the policies and procedures of the records management program in their departments;
(3) 
Disseminate information to department staff concerning the records management program.
(Ordinance 508, § 10, adopted 8/7/2007)
(a) 
The records management officer, in cooperation with department heads and records liaison officers, 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 city 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 records management program of the city.
(c) 
Before its adoption, a records control schedule of amended schedule for a department must be approved by the department head and the records management officer.
(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 of the state library.
(Ordinance 508, § 11, adopted 8/7/2007)
(a) 
A records control schedule for a department that has been approved and adopted under Section 2-508 shall be implemented by department heads and records liaison officers 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 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 508, § 12, adopted 8/7/2007)
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 of the state library an approved destruction authorization request.
(Ordinance 508, § 13, adopted 8/7/2007)
A records center, should one be established by the city, developed pursuant to the plan required by section 2-503, 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 2-503.
(Ordinance 508, § 14, adopted 8/7/2007)
Unless a micrographics program in a department is specifically exempted by order of the city, 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 city 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 508, § 15, adopted 8/7/2007)