HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 710 Amending Chapter 2 Administration Article VI Records ManagementAN ORDINANCE OF ! OF WESTLAKE AMENDING.,
ADMINISTRATION, RECORDS ., !- i
THROUGH 2-209; i 1l iPROVIDING A
DATE.SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND ESTABLISHING AN
EFFECTIVE
WHEREAS, the Town of Westlake, Texas is a general law Town; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council adopted Ordinance 190 fulfilling certain requirements of the
Local Government Records Act of 1989, designating a Records Management Officer, defining
municipal records, duties and adopted retention schedules set forth by the Texas State Library and
Archive Commissions; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 190 designated the Records Management Officer as the Town
Secretary; and
WHEREAS, municipal records are created by all departments and due to the increase of the
amount of records created municipalities have designated Department Heads as Records Liaisons
responsible for records created by their respective departments; and
WHEREAS, upon the recommendation of the Town Secretary's Office the Town Council of
the Town of Westlake, Texas, is of the opinion that it is in the best interests of the town and its citizens
that the amendments should be approved and adopted.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF
WESTLAKE, TEXAS:
SECTION l: That all matters stated in the preamble are found to be true and correct and are
incorporated herein as if copied in their entirety.
SECTION 2: That Chapter 2, Administration Article VI, Sections 2-201 through 2-209 of the
Town of Westlake Code of Ordinances, as amended, is hereby amended as follows.
Chapter 2
Administration
ARTICLE VI. RECORDS MANAGEMENT
See. 2-201. Definitions.
The following words, terms and phrases when used in this article, shall have the meanings
ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different
meaning:
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Department head. Means the officer who by ordinance, or administrative policy is in charge
of an office of the municipality that creates or receives records.
Director and librarian means the executive and administrative officer of the Texas State
Library and Archives Commission.
Essential 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.
Municipal record means any document, paper, letter, book, map, photograph, sound or video
recording, 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 town or any of
its officers or employees pursuant to law, including an ordinance, or in the transaction of
public business. The term does not include:
(1) Extra identical copies of documents created only for convenience of reference or research
by officers or employees of the town;
(2) Notes, journals, diaries, and similar documents, created by an officer or employee of the
town 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., 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 town 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 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 "records management"
includes the development of records control schedules, the management of filing and
information retrieval systems, the protection of essential and permanent records, the
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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 liaisons. Mean the persons designated under Section 2-208 of this article.
Records management officer means the person designated in section 2-204.
Records management plan means the plan developed under section 2-205.
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.
(Ord. No. 190, §§ 1, 2(2)--(9), 10-10-1991)
Sec. 2-202. Records declared public property.
(a) Municipal records created or received in the transaction of official business or the
creation or maintenance of which were paid for by public funds are declared to be public
property and are subject to the provisions of this article and V.T.C.A., Government Code §
441.151 et seq.
(b) A town officer or employee does not have, by virtue of the officer's or employee's
position, any personal or property right to a municipal record even though the officer or
employee developed or compiled it.
(c) The unauthorized destruction, removal from files, or use of such records is prohibited.
Sec. 2-203. Policy.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the town to provide for efficient, economical, and
effective controls over the creation, distribution, organization, maintenance, use, and
disposition of all municipal records through a comprehensive system of integrated procedures
for their management from creation to ultimate disposition, consistent with the requirements
of the Local Government Records Act (V.T.C.A., Local Government
Sec. 2-204. Designation of records management officer.
The town secretary, and the successive holders of such office, 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 Texas State Library, within
30 days of the initial designation or of taking up the office, as applicable.
Sec. 2-205. Records management plan to be developed; approval; authority.
(a) The records management officer shall develop a records management plan for the town
for submission to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The plan must
contain policies and procedures designed to reduce the costs and improve the efficiency
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of recordkeeping, to adequately protect the essential records of the municipality, and to
properly preserve those records of the municipality 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) The records management plan shall be binding on all offices, departments, divisions,
programs, commissions, bureaus, boards, committees, or similar entities of the town 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, 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 town.
Sec. 2-206. Duties of records management officer.
In addition to other duties assigned in this article or by state law, 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 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 town;
(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 town;
(7) Provide records management advice and assistance to all municipal departments by
preparation of manuals of procedure and policy and on-site consultation;
(8) Monitor records retention schedules and administrative rules issued by the Texas State
Library and Archives Commission to determine if the records management program and
the municipality's records control schedules are in compliance with state regulations;
(9) Disseminate to the town council and department heads information concerning state
laws and administrative rules relating to local government records;
(10) Instruct record liaisons and other personnel in policies and procedures of the records
management plan and their duties in the records management program;
(11) Instruct records liaisons and other personnel in the conduct of records inventories;
(12) Ensure that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, 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;
(13) Maintain records on the volume of records destroyed under approved records control
schedules or through records destruction authorization requests, the volume of records
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microfilmed or stored electronically, and the estimated cost and space savings as the
result of such disposal or disposition;
(14) Bring to the attention of the Town Council noncompliance with the policies and
procedures of the records management program or the Local Government Records Act.
Sec. 2-207 Duties and Responsibilities of Department Leads.
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 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; and
(3) maintain the records in his or her care and carry out their preservation, microfilming,
electronic storage, destruction, or other disposition only in accordance with the policies
and procedures of the records management program and the requirements of this article.
Sec. 2-208 Designation of Records Liaisons.
Each department head shall designate a member of his or her staff to serve as records liaison
officer for the implementations 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 designated the number of records liaison officers 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 records 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 designated another
person to fill the vacancy. A department head may serve as records liaison officer for his or
her department.
Sec. 2-209 Duties and Responsibilities of Records Liaisons.
In addition to other duties assigned in the article, records liaisons shall:
(1) conduct or supervise the conduct of inventories of the records of the department in
preparation for the development of records control schedule;
(2) in cooperation with the records management officer coordinate and implement the
policies and procedures of the records management program in their departments; and
(3) disseminate information to department staff concerning the records management
program.
See. 2-210. Records control schedules to be developed; approval; filing with state.
(a) The records management officer shall prepare records control schedules listing all
records series created or received and the retention period of each series. Records
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control schedules shall also contain such other information regarding the disposition
of records as the records management plan or state law may require.
(b) The records management officer shall review the records control schedules of the town
and prepare amendments to the schedules as needed to reflect new records created or
received by the town or revisions to retention periods established in a records
retention schedule issued by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Amendments to records control schedules shall be filed with the director and librarian
in the same manner as the original schedules.
(c) The records management officer shall submit the records control schedules to the director
and librarian, who must accept them for filing, as provided by state law, before their
implementation. If a schedule is not accepted for filing, the schedule shall be
amended to make it acceptable for filing.
Sec. 2-211. Implementation of records control schedules; destruction of records under
schedule.
(a) A records control schedule that has been approved and adopted under section 2-207 shall
be implemented 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 law suit, or there is a request in writing to the
records management officer that the record be retained for an additional period.
(c) Prior to the destruction of a record under an approved records control schedule,
authorization for the destruction must be obtained by the records management officer.
Sec. 2-212. Destruction of unscheduled records.
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 an approved destruction authorization request.
SECTION 3: That this Ordinance shall be cumulative of all other Town Ordinances and all
other provisions of other Ordinances adopted by the Town which are inconsistent with the terms or
provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed.
SECTION 4: It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Town Council of the Town of
Westlake, Texas, that sections, paragraphs, clauses and phrases of this Ordinance are severable, and if
any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this Ordinance shall be declared legally invalid or
unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such legal
invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences,
paragraphs or sections of this Ordinance since the same would have been enacted by the Town
Council of the Town of Westlake without the incorporation in this Ordinance of any such legally
invalid or unconstitutional, phrase, sentence, paragraph or section.
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SECTION 5: This ordinance shall take effect immediately from and after its passage as the
law in such case provides.
ATTEST:
Ke11y�Edwards; Town Secretary
Laur Wheat, Mayor
Thomas E. Brymer, Town Manager
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