CHAPTER 167
Records Commission

167.01   Definitions.

167.02   Established; membership; functions.

167.03   Disposal of records; State approval required.

167.04   Preservation of historical records.

CROSS REFERENCES

      Power to establish - see CHTR. Art. VI, Sec. 1

      Documents, reports and records - see Ohio R.C. Ch. 149

      Tampering with records - see GEN. OFF. 642.18

167.01 DEFINITIONS.

   As used in this chapter:

   (a)   “Record” means any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, created or received by or coming under the jurisdiction of any public office of the City, which serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the office.

   (b)   “Archive” means any public record which is transferred to the state archives or other designated archival institutions pursuant to these Codified Ordinances because of the historical information contained therein.

      (Ord.  2001-08.  Passed 1-2-01.)

167.02 ESTABLISHED; MEMBERSHIP; FUNCTIONS.

   (a)    There is hereby established a Records Commission to be composed of the Mayor (as Chairman), the Finance Director, the Law Director and a resident of the City appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by Council. The Clerk of Council shall be the Clerk of the Commission.

   (b)    The functions of the Commission are to provide rules for the retention and disposal of records of the City and to review one-time records disposal (RC-1 forms) and schedules of records retention and disposition (RC-2 forms) submitted by City offices. The Commission may employ an archivist and it shall meet at least once every six months and upon the call of the Chairman. The disposal lists shall contain those records that no longer have administrative, legal or fiscal value to the City or to its residents. Such records may be disposed of by the Commission pursuant to the procedure set forth in Section 167.03.

(Ord.  2001-08.  Passed 1-2-01.)

167.03 DISPOSAL OF RECORDS; STATE APPROVAL REQUIRED.

   (a)   The Records Commission shall approve all one-time records disposal (RC-1 forms) and schedules of records retention and disposition (RC-2 forms) in an open meeting under Ohio R.C. 121.22.  Such forms shall be signed by the Mayor as Chairman of the Commission and sent, together with lists of municipal records approved for disposal, to the Ohio Historical Society to determine if any of the records are of continuing historical value.  The Ohio Historical Society shall then forward the same to the Auditor of State for approval.

   (b)   When City records have been approved for a one-time records disposal or a schedule of records retention is initially approved by the Records Commission, the Ohio Historical Society shall be informed and shall be given an opportunity, for a period of sixty days, to select, for its custody or disposal, such public records as it considers to be of continuing historical value.  If the Auditor of State disapproves of the action by the Commission, in whole or in part, he or she shall so inform the Commission within a period of sixty days, and such records shall not be destroyed.

   (c)   A properly approved schedule of records retention (RC-2 form) shall constitute continuing authority to dispose of records when the schedule retention period has expired.  The Commission may at any time review any schedule it has previously approved, and for good cause shown may revise that schedule.

   (d)   Prior to actual disposal of any records, a certificate of records disposal (RC-3 form) shall be sent to the Ohio Historical Society and then to the Auditor of State a minimum of fifteen (15) business days before the proposed disposal or destruction date.

(Ord.  2001-8.  Passed 1-2-01.)

167.04 PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL RECORDS.

   (a)   The Commission may provide for the location, preservation, storage, archiving, duplicating and presentation of any and all historical records of note for the citizens of the City, subject to any state requirements concerning the Ohio Historical Society.

   (b)   In order to implement this section, the Commission may provide for the payment of, or the reimbursement to those assisting the Commission and City, the reasonable costs of locating, storing, duplicating, archiving and preserving such historical records.  In this regard the Mayor as chairperson of the Records Commission shall have authority to authorize such expenditures in an amount not to exceed a total of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) per year without prior Council approval. 

(Ord.  2001-8.  Passed 1-2-01.)