[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Bethlehem as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-13-1993 by L.L. No. 8-1993]
Records are essential to the administration
of local government. They contain the information that keeps government
programs functioning. It is the intent of this article that a Records
Management Program be established which will assist officials in making
decisions, administering programs and providing administrative continuity
with past operations. The program is intended to document the delivery
of services, show the legal responsibilities of government and protect
the legal rights of citizens. It will contain information on taxation
and on the management and expenditure of funds. These records will
also document the historical development of government itself, the
community and the people of the Town.
[Amended 11-22-2011 by L.L. No. 6-2011]
A.
There shall
be a Records Management Program established under the aegis of the
Town Clerk and headed by the Records Management Officer, for all departments
of the Town other than the Police Department. The Town Clerk is designated
as the Records Management Officer (RMO) and will be responsible for
administering the current and archival public records in storage areas
for the Town in accordance with local, state and federal laws and
guidelines.
C.
The Chief
of Police shall designate a Records Management Officer for the Police
Department who shall have all the powers and duties of the RMO described
in this article as it relates to records of the Police Department.
The powers and duties described in this article for the Records Management
Officer shall also apply to the Police Department Records Management
Officer to the extent that records of the Police Department are involved.
The Police Department Records Management Officer shall provide a copy
of all determinations under this article to the Records Management
Officer.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Those official records which have been determined by the
Records Management Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient
historical or other value to warrant the continued preservation by
the Town.
Official files, minutes and documents, books, papers, photographs,
sound recordings, microforms or any other materials, regardless of
physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law
or in conjunction with the transaction of official Town business.
A central storage area maintained by the Records Management
Officer for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records
which must be preserved for varying periods of time.
The removal by the Town of Bethlehem, in accordance with
approved records control schedules, of the records no longer necessary
for the conduct of business by such agency through removal methods
which may include the disposition of temporary records by destruction
or donation or the transfer of records to a central storage facility
for records determined to have historical or other sufficient value
warranting continued preservation or the transfer of records from
one Town agency to another Town agency.
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial activities involved in records disposition,
including records preservation, records disposal and the records center
or other storage facilities.
Making information in records available to any agency for
official use or to the public.
The Records Management Officer shall have all
the necessary powers to carry out the efficient administration and
determination of value, use, preservation, storage and disposition
of the public records kept, filed or received by the officers and
departments of the Town.
A.
The Records Management Officer shall continually survey
and examine public records to recommend their classification so as
to determine the most suitable method to be used for maintaining,
storing and servicing them under the following guidelines:
(1)
Disposition. Records deemed obsolete and unnecessary
according to the New York State Records Retention and Disposition
Schedule are subject to disposition.
(2)
Archival retention. Records containing information
with administrative, legal, fiscal, research, historical or educational
value which warrants their permanent retention are subject to archival
retention.
(3)
Active retention. Records not yet subject to disposition
according to state law are subject to active retention.
B.
The Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines
for proper records management in any department of the Town government
in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The Records Management Officer shall report from time
to time as appropriate to the governing body on the powers and duties
herein mentioned, including but not limited to the development and
progress of programs to date and planned activities for subsequent
years.
[Amended 11-22-2011 by L.L. No. 6-2011]
D.
The Records Management Officer shall operate a central
records management storage facility for storage, processing and servicing
of all Town records for all Town departments and agencies.
E.
Additional requirements of the Records Management
Officer include but are not limited to:
(1)
Development of a comprehensive records management
program.
(2)
Conduct of an initial survey and analysis of all records,
to be followed up annually with a report of records stored.
(3)
Encouragement and coordination of the continuous legal
destruction of obsolete records through the adoption and use of the
State Archive Records Retention and Disposition Schedules.
(4)
Development of suitable retention periods for records
not covered by the New York State Records Retention and Disposition
Schedules. (Subsequently, the RMO must secure approval of such retention
periods from the New York State Commissioner of Education and gain
adoption from the Town Board of any proposed change before the retention
period takes effect.)
(5)
Assistance to each department for the establishment
of a records management system to support the overall Town records
management program and encouragement of the continued efficient management
of records within respective departments.
(6)
Setting up and overseeing a center for the storage
of inactive records.
(7)
Maintenance of archival materials which are not official
Town records but which have historical value to the community or close
relationship to the existing archival collection. This 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)
Coordination of and carrying out or participating
in the planning for development of advanced records management systems
and equipment.
(9)
Preparation of special and annual reports for the
Town Board on the records management program progress, cost savings
and cost avoidance problems and additional issues.
[Amended 11-22-2011 by L.L. No. 6-2011]
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 five members, with the Records
Management Officer of the Town as Chairman, and including the Town
Historian, the Police Records Management Officer, a Councilperson
and the Town Attorney. The Councilperson shall be appointed by the
Town Board. The Board shall meet periodically and have the following
duties:
A.
To provide advice to the Records Management Officer
on the development of the records management program.
B.
To review the performance of the program on an ongoing
basis and propose changes and improvements.
C.
To review any changes in retention periods proposed
by the Records Management Officer for records not covered by the State
Archive Schedules.
D.
To 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.
Active records. The originating department has full
custody (legal and physical) over records still in active use.
B.
Inactive records. The originating department is the
legal custodian of its records and shall retain the power to retrieve
and use records deposited in inactive storage in the records center.
The RMO will have physical custody of inactive records and will determine
the method and design of storage.
C.
Archival records. Records transferred to or acquired
by the archives shall be under the full custody (legal and physical)
of the archives, as directed by the RMO, rather than the department
which created or held them immediately prior to being transferred
to the archives.
(1)
Records shall be transferred to the archives upon
the recommendation of the RMO, with the approval of the head of the
department which had custody of the records and the approval of the
Records Advisory Board.
(2)
Records may be removed (temporarily or permanently)
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, subject to the approval of the Records
Advisory Board.
No record shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed
of by a department of the Town until it has met the time limit on
the New York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule or unless
approved of by the Records Management Officer. No records shall be
destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the Records Management Officer
without the express written consent of the department head having
authority. Following required consents and prior to actual destruction,
the RMO will allow the Town Historian to review and/or remove any
single document or sampling of documents that are of historic value
to the community.
The Legal Department may take steps to recover
local government records which have been alienated from proper custody
and may, when necessary, institute actions of replevin. ("Replevin"
means the recovery by a person of goods claimed to be his, on his
promise to test the matter in court and give the goods up again if
defeated.)
To comply with Article 6 of the Public Officers
Law, the following format will be followed:
A.
All requests for information shall be in writing,
reasonably describing the record requested, and made during regular
business hours of the Town of Bethlehem offices.
B.
Within five business days of the receipt of the written
request, one of the following will occur:
C.
Any person denied access to a record may appeal, within
30 days, in writing, such denial to the Town Supervisor.
[Amended 11-22-2011 by L.L. No. 6-2011]
D.
The Town Supervisor is hereby designated as the appeal
agency for determination of denials and will proceed as follows:
[Amended 11-22-2011 by L.L. No. 6-2011]
(1)
The Town
Supervisor shall, within 10 business days of the receipt of an appeal,
fully explain, in writing, to the person requesting the record the
reason for further denial or the Town Supervisor shall provide access
to the record sought.
(2)
The Town
Supervisor shall forward to the Committee on Open Government, the
Town’s Records Management Officer and the members of the Records
Advisory Board a copy of such appeal when received by the agency and
the ensuing determination thereon.
(3)
The
Town Supervisor may delegate the duty of determining any appeal to
the Town Attorney, and the Town Attorney shall serve as the appeal
officer in the event the Town Supervisor is unavailable.
A set fee will be charged per photocopy of a
record. Such charges will be established by resolution of the Town
Board.
