[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Yorktown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-4-1989 by L.L. No. 10-1989]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those official records which have been determined by the Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the local government.
RECORDS
Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound recordings, microforms or any materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official Town of Yorktown business.
RECORDS CENTER
An establishment maintained by the town primarily for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records which must be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained in office equipment or space.
RECORDS DISPOSITION
The removal by the town, in accordance with approved records control schedules, of records no longer necessary for the conduct of business by such agency through removal methods which may include:
A. 
The disposal of temporary records by destruction or donation.
B. 
The transfer of records to the Record Center/Archives for temporary storage of inactive records and permanent storage of records determined to have historical or other sufficient value warranting continued preservation.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promotion and other managerial use and record disposition, including records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other storage facilities.
SERVICING
Making information in records available to any Town of Yorktown agency for official use or to the public.
There shall be a records management program established under the aegis of the Records Advisory Board and headed by the records management officer (RMO). The officer will be responsible for administering the noncurrent and archival public records and storage areas for the Town of Yorktown in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines. The RMO may, at her/his discretion, appoint a designee to perform her/his RMO functions and duties hereunder.
The officer shall have all the necessary powers to carry out the efficient administration, determination of value, use, preservation, storage and disposition of the noncurrent and archival public records kept, filed or received by the offices and departments of the Town of Yorktown.
A. 
The RMO shall continually survey and examine public records to recommend their classification so as to determine the most suitable methods to be used for maintaining, storing and servicing archival material:
(1) 
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedules thereby subject to disposition.
(2) 
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research historical or educational value which warrant their permanent retention.
(3) 
Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
B. 
The officer shall establish guidelines for proper records management in any department or agency of the Town of Yorktown in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C. 
The officer shall operate or contract for a records management center for the storage, processing and servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for all Town of Yorktown departments and agencies.
D. 
The officer shall establish a Town of Yorktown Archives and perform the following functions:
(1) 
Advise and assist Yorktown departments in reviewing and selecting material to be transferred to the Yorktown Archives for preservation.
(2) 
Continually survey and examine public records to determine the most suitable methods to be used for creating, maintaining, storing and servicing archival materials.
(3) 
Establish and maintain an adequate repository for the proper storage, conservation, processing and servicing of archival records.
(4) 
Promulgate rules governing public access to and use of records in the archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
(5) 
Develop a confidentiality policy for archival records designated confidential, provided that such policy does not conflict with any federal or state statutes.
(6) 
Provide information services to other Town of Yorktown offices.
(7) 
Collect archival materials which are not official Town of Yorktown records but which have associational value to the Town of Yorktown or a close relationship to the existing archival collection. Such collecting shall be subject to archive space, staff and cost limitations and to the potential endangerment of such materials if they are not collected by the archives.
(8) 
Develop a procedure whereby historically important records are to be identified at the point of generation.
There shall be a Records Advisory Board designated to work closely with and provide advice to the records management officer. The Board shall consist of one Councilperson, the Town Attorney, one representative of the Police Department, the Building Inspector or designee, the Planning Director, the Town Historian and one representative of the general public. The Board shall meet periodically and have the following duties:
A. 
Provide advice to the records management officer on the development of the records management program.
B. 
Review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis and propose changes and improvements.
C. 
Review retention periods proposed by the Records Management Office for records not covered by State Archives' schedules.
D. 
Provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival value and to be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.
A. 
Each Town of Yorktown department is the legal custodian of its records and shall retain legal custody of records deposited in the records center. Records transferred to or acquired by the archives shall be under the custody and control of the archives, supervised by the Curator/Director of the Yorktown Museum, rather than the department which created or held them immediately prior to being transferred to the archives.
B. 
Records shall be transferred to the archives, upon the recommendation of the RMO, with the approval of the head of the department which has custody of the records.
C. 
Records may be permanently removed for cause from the archives at the request of the RMO or the head of the department which had custody of the records immediately prior to the transfer of those records to the archives.