For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
COMMISSION. The State Library and Archives Commission.
CUSTODIAN. The appointed or elected public officer who by the State Constitution, state law, ordinance, or administrative policy is in charge of the office that creates or receives local government records. A CUSTODIAN is a department head, under the administration of the City Council, who is responsible for all records in his or her department.
DIRECTOR AND LIBRARIAN. The executive and administrative officer of the State Library and Archives Commission.
ESSENTIAL RECORDS. Any local government record necessary to the resumption or continuation of government operations in an emergency or disaster, to the re-creation of legal and financial status of the city, or to the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people of the state.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT RECORD. 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 local city government offices or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law, including an ordinance, or in the transaction of public business, are hereby declared to be records of the city and shall be created, maintained, and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of the Act, Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code, Title 6. 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 city;
(2) Notes, journals, diaries, and similar documents created by an officer or employee of the city for the 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; or
(6) Copies of documents in any media furnished to members of the public to which they are entitled under Tex. Gov’t Code, Chapter 552, or other state law.
OFFICE. Any office, department, division, program, commission, bureau, board, committee, or similar entity of the city.
RECORD. A record of the city.
RECORDS CONTROL SCHEDULE. A document prepared by or under the authority of a records management officer listing the records maintained by the city, their retention periods, and other records disposition information that the records management program in the city or state law may require.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT. The application of management techniques to the creation, use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of records for the purpose of reducing the costs and improving the efficiency of record keeping. 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 electronic and other record storage systems.
RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE. A document issued by the Commission establishing mandatory retention periods for local government records.
RETENTION PERIOD. 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. 335, passed 2-12-1991)