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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 190 Designating a Records Management Officer and establishing a policyORDINANCE NO. 190 AN ORDINANCE FULFILLING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT RECORDS ACT OF 1989, DESIGNATING A RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER, DEFINING MUNICIPAL RECORDS; DEFINING DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER; IMPLEMENTING RECORD CONTROL SCHEDULES AND DESTRUCTION SCHEDULES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, Title 6, Subtitle C, Local Government Code (Local Government Records Act) provides that a municipality must establish by ordinance an active and continuing records management program to be administered by a Records Management Officer; and WHEREAS, the Town of Westlake desires to adopt an ordinance for that purpose and to prescribe policies and procedures consistent with the Local Government Records Act and in the interests of cost-effective and efficient recordkeeping; NOW BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS: SECTION 1. DEFINITION OF MUNICIPAL RECORDS. All documents, papers, letters, books, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings, microfilm, magnetic tap, electronic media, or other information recording media, regardless of physical form or characteristic and regardless of whether public access to them is open or restricted under the laws of the state, created or received by the Town of Westlake 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 Town of Westlake and shall be created, maintained, and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance or procedures authorized by it and in no other manner. SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. In this ordinance: (1) "Town" means the Town of Westlake. (2) "Director and librarian" means the executive and administrative officer of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. ORDINANCE PAGE - 1 \373-23.003\012.ord (3) "Essential record" means any record of Westlake 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. (4) "Permanent record" means any record of Westlake for which the retention period on a records control schedule is given as permanent. (5) "Records control schedule" means a document prepared by or under the authority of the Records Management Officer listing the records maintained by Westlake, their retention periods, and other records disposition information that the records management program may require. (6) "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 essential 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. (7) "Records management officer" means the person designated in Section 6 of this ordinance. (8) "Records management plan" means the plan developed under Section 7 of this ordinance. (9) "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. SECTION 3. MUNICIPAL RECORDS DECLARED PUBLIC PROPERTY. All municipal records as defined in Sec. 1 of this ordinance are hereby declared to be the property of Westlake. No municipal official or employee has, by virtue of his or 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. SECTION 4. POLICY. It is hereby declared to be the policy of Westlake to provide for efficient, economical, and effective controls over the creation, distribution, organization, maintenance, use, and disposition of all municipal records through ORDINANCE PAGE - 2 \373-23.003\012.ord a comprehensive system of integrated procedures for their management from creation to ultimate disposition, consistent with the requirements of the Texas Local Government Records Act and accepted records management practice. SECTION 5. DESIGNATION OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER. The Town Secretary, and the successive holders of said office, shall serve as Records Management Officer for Westlake. As provided by state law, each successive holder of the office shall file his or her name with the director and librarian of the Texas State Library within thirty days of the initial designation or of taking up the office, as applicable. SECTION 6. RECORDS MANAGEMENT PLAN TO BE DEVELOPED; APPROVAL OF PLAN; AUTHORITY OF PLAN (a) The Records Management Officer shall develop a records management plan for Westlake 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 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 or her duties prescribed by state law and this ordinance effectively. (b) The records management plan shall be binding on all offices, departments, divisions, programs, commissions, bureaus, boards, committees, or similar entities of Westlake 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 ordinance 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 of Westlake. SECTION 7. DUTIES OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER. In addition to other duties assigned in this ordinance, the Records Management Officer shall: (1) administer the records management program and provide assistance in its implementation; (2) plan, formulate, and prescribe records disposition policies, systems, standards, and procedures; (3) identify essential records and establish a disaster plan to ensure maximum availability of the records in order to re- ORDINANCE PAGE - 3 \373-23.003\012.ord establish 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 Westlake; (7) 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; (8) disseminate to the Board of Aldermen information concerning state laws and administrative rules relating to local government records; (9) ensure that the maintenance, preservation, microfilming, destruction, or other disposition of the records of Westlake are carried out in accordance with the policies and procedures of the records management program and the requirements of state law; (10) maintain records on the volume of records destroyed under approved records control schedules or through records destruction authorization requests, the volume of records microfilmed or stored electronically, and the estimated cost and space savings as the result of such disposal or disposition; (11) report annually to the Board of Aldermen on the implementation of the records management plan, including summaries of the statistical and fiscal data compiled under Subsection (10); and (12) bring to the attention of the Board of Aldermen non- compliance with the policies and procedures of the records management program or the Local Government Records Act. SECTION S. 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 control schedules shall also contain such other information regarding the disposition of records as the records management plan may require. ORDINANCE PAGE - 4 \373-23.003\012.ord (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 records management program of Westlake. (c) Before its implementation 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. SECTION 9. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECORDS CONTROL SCHEDULES; DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS UNDER SCHEDULE. (a) A records control schedule that has been approved and adopted under Section 8 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 from the Board of Aldermen. SECTION 10. 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 11. VALIDITY. Should any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause, phrase or provision of this ordinance be declared by a Court to invalid or unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole or any part thereof, other than the part so declared to be invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 12. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be effective and be in full force and effect immediately upon its passage and publication as by law provided. ORDINANCE PAGE - 5 \373-23.003\012.ord PASSED AND APPROVED this day of 1991. DALE L. WHITE, MAYOR TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS ATTEST: GERRY WHITE, SECRETARY TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: PAUL C. ISHAM, TOWN ATTORNEY TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS ORDINANCE PAGE - 6 \373-23.003\012.ord