§ 2-271. Definitions

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this division, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Department head means the officer who, by ordinance or administrative policy, is in charge of an office of the city that creates or receives records.

Essential record means any record of the city which is necessary to the resumption or continuation of its operations in an emergency or disaster, the recreation of its legal and financial status or the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people of the state.

Municipal records means all documents, papers, letters, books, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings, microfilms, magnetic tapes, electronic media or other information recording media, regardless of the physical form or characteristic and whether public access to such media is open or restricted under the laws of the state, created or received by the city or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law, including an ordinance, or the transaction of public business are hereby declared to be the records of the city, and shall be created, maintained and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this division or procedures authorized by this division and in no other manner. Such 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 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 the city 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 city for which the retention period on a records control schedule issued by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission 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 city, 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 purpose of reducing the costs and improving the efficiency of recordkeeping. Such term includes the:

(1) Development of records control schedules;

(2) Management of filing and information retrieval systems;

(3) Protection of essential and permanent records;

(4) Economical and space-efficient storage of inactive records;

(5) Control over the creation and distribution of forms, reports and correspondence; and

(6) Management of micrographics and electronic and other records storage systems.

Records management officer means the person designated in section 2-274.

Records management plan means the plan developed under section 2-275.

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. 725, §§ 1, 2, 3-3-1997)

refcross

Definitions generally, § 1-2.

refstatelaw

Similar definitions, V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 201.003.