Skip to code content (skip section selection)
Compare to:
SEC. 39C-3.   DEFINITIONS.
   (1)   APPROVED RECORDS RETENTION AND DISPOSITION SCHEDULE means a records retention and disposition schedule that has been:
      (A)   approved by the department director, the records management officer, and the records management policy committee;
      (B)   adopted by the city council by resolution; and
      (C)   filed by the records management officer and approved by the director and librarian of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission either:
         (i)   in a detailed format determined by the director and librarian; or
         (ii)   through a written certification of compliance filed in accordance with state law.
   (2)   CITY RECORD means every 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 state law, that is created or received by the city of Dallas or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law or in the transaction of public business. A city record does not include library or museum material acquired solely for reference, exhibit, or display or stocks of publications, advertisements, or other unsolicited written materials received by the city or any of its officers or employees.
   (3)   DALLAS MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES AND RECORD CENTER (DMARC) means the facility described in Section 39C-17 of this chapter that is used to provide centralized and secure storage for noncurrent and permanent city records.
   (4)   DEPARTMENT means any department, office, agency, division, program, commission, bureau, board, committee, task force, ad hoc committee, or similar entity of the city.
   (5)   DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR means the officer who by ordinance, order, or administrative policy is in charge of a department or an office of the city that creates or receives city records.
   (6)   ESSENTIAL RECORD means any city record necessary to:
      (A)   the resumption or continuation of operations of the city in an emergency or disaster;
      (B)   the re-creation of the legal and financial status of the city; or
      (C)   the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the citizens of the city.
   (7)   LOCAL GOVERNMENT RECORDS ACT means Title 6, Subtitle C of the Local Government Code, as amended.
   (8)   PERMANENT RECORD means any city record for which the retention period on a records retention and disposition schedule is given as permanent.
   (9)   PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT means Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code, also known as the Texas Open Records Act.   
   (10)   RECORDS DISPOSITION means the removal of a city record from a department or from a noncurrent records storage center and:
      (A)   for a city record that has passed its minimum legal retention period and no longer has value to the city, the destruction of the record; or
      (B)   for a permanent city record, transfer of the record to DMARC for archival accession.
   (11)   RECORDS INVENTORY means the process of locating, identifying, and describing in detail the records of a department.
   (12)   RECORDS LIAISON OFFICER means any person designated under Section 39C-12 of this chapter.
   (13)   RECORDS MANAGEMENT means the planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promoting, and application of other management techniques involved in the creation, use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of city records for the purposes of achieving adequate and proper documentation of the policies and transactions of city government and reducing the costs and improving the efficiency of recordkeeping. The term includes:
      (A)   the development of records retention and disposition schedules;
      (B)   the management of filing and information retrieval systems;
      (C)   the protection of essential and permanent records;
      (D)   the economical and space-effective storage of noncurrent records;
      (E)   the control over the creation and distribution of forms, reports, and correspondence;
      (F)   the management of manual, micrographic, electronic, and other records storage systems; and
      (G)   the identification of functional recordkeeping requirements that ensure city records are created to adequately document the city’s business transactions.
   (14)   RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER means the person appointed by the city secretary, in accordance with Chapter IIIA, Section 3 of the city charter, to fill the position designated by the city council, pursuant to the Local Government Records Act, to administer the city’s records management program.
   (15)   RECORDS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM means the requirements, policies, and procedures developed under Section 39C-10 of this chapter.
   (16)   RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY COMMITTEE means the committee established under Section 39C-8 of this chapter.
   (17)   RECORDS RETENTION AND DISPOSITION SCHEDULE means a document prepared by or under the authority of the records management officer that describes recurring records or records series on a continuing basis, indicating for each record or records series:
      (A)   the length of time the record or records series is to be maintained in a department or in DMARC;
      (B)   when and if the record or records series may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of; and
      (C)   other records disposition information that the records management program may require.
   (18)   RETENTION PERIOD means the minimum time that must pass after the creation, recording, or receipt of a city record, or after the fulfillment of certain actions associated with a city record, before the record is eligible for disposition. (Ord. Nos. 20787; 23267)