Policy Model 2
SUGGESTED POLICY MODEL FOR ESTABLISHING A RECORDS
MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM BY ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION
Please direct any questions you have concerning
this model to:
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
State and Local Records Management Division
PO Box 12927
Austin, TX 78711-2927
512- 421-7200
The Texas Local Government Records Act (Title 6, Subtitle C, Local
Government Code) requires that each local government establish a
records management program by ordinance, order, or resolution, as
appropriate, no later than January 1, 1991. A copy of the ordinance,
order, or resolution must be filed with the director and librarian
of the Texas State Library, the executive and administrative officer
of the Texas Library and Archives Commission. The model below satisfies
this requirement of the Act and can be modified to fit the records
management needs of any local government. It establishes the authority
and assigns the responsibility for carrying out the records management
program required by state law and creates the administrative framework
through which the purposes of the program are to be achieved.
State law requires that each local government designate a records
management officer no later than June 1, 1990. As written, the model
is designed for local governments, expected to be the great majority
of those in the state, that contemplate having their records management
programs administered on a part-time basis by officials who have
other duties in addition to those of records management officers.
There are two sections five in the model. Which one to use depends
on whether the designated records management officer is a named
individual or a named office, the successive holders of which will
serve as records management officer. We recommend the latter alternative
because it helps ensure continuity. Larger governments that already
have or anticipate hiring full-time records managers should modify
the model to provide for a formal records management department
or sub-department.
One of the central strategies of cost-effective records management
is the separation of active from semi-active or inactive records
and the removal of the latter from the active office space in each
department of the local government to a centralized records storage
area. This storage area must be under the authority of the records
management officer, as the model provides, if it is to serve its
purpose effectively. (See Section
15)
In the same vein, another traditional strategy of managing records
effectively-micrographics-should be centralized and placed under
the direction of the records management officer. If, as special
circumstances occasionally dictate, a department of a local government
has a separate microfilm program, management protocols should be
established to avoid duplication of effort, to take advantage of
any bulk purchase discounts on microfilm supplies, etc. Microfilming
clauses and provisions are included in the model because of the
widespread use of microfilming in Texas local governments. Governments
that do not microfilm can easily eliminate these provisions from
their own ordinance, order, or resolution. (See Section
16)
The model contains two provisions (Section
6 and Section 10) - relating
to a records management committee and records liaison officers-that
are not specifically called for in the Local Government Records
Act, but are traditional organizational features of good records
management programs. They will help ensure that the records management
program runs smoothly and that all departments of the government
benefit from it.
MODEL ORDINANCE OR ORDER
[TITLE]
WHEREAS, Title 6, subtitle C, Local Government Code (Local
Government Records Act) provides that a [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT] must
establish by [ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION] an active and continuing
records management program to be administered by a Records Management
Officer; and
WHEREAS, the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT] desires to adopt an [ORDINANCE,
ORDER, OR RESOLUTION] 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 THEREFORE:
BE IT [ORDAINED, ORDERED, OR RESOLVED] BY THE
[TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY] OF [NAME OF GOVERNMENT]
SECTION 1. DEFINITION [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT]
RECORDS. All documents, papers, letters, books, maps, photographs,
sound or video recordings, microfilm, magnetic tape, electronic
media, or other information recording media, regardless of physical
form or characteristic and regardless of whether public access to
it is open or restricted under the laws of the state, crated or
received by the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT] 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 [NAME OF GOVERNMENT] and shall
be created, maintained, and disposed of in accordance with the provisions
of this [ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION] or procedures authorized
by it and in no other manner.
SECTION 2. ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.
(1) "Department head" means the officer who by ordinance, order,
or administrative policy is in charge of an office of the [NAME
OF GOVERNMENT] that creates or receives records. (Notes,
1)
(2) "Essential record" means any record of the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT]
necessary to the resumption or continuation of operations of the
[NAME OF GOVERNMENT] in an emergency or disaster, to the recreation
of the legal and financial status of the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT],
or to the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people
of the state.
(3) "Permanent record" means any record of the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT]
for which the retention period on a records control schedule is
given as permanent.
(4) "Records control schedule" means a document prepared by or
under the authority of the Records Management Officer listing
the records maintained by the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT], their retention
periods, and other records disposition information that the records
management program may require.
(5) "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.
(6) "Records liaison officers" mean the persons designated under
Section 10 of
this [ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION].
(7) "Records management committee" means the committee established
in Section 6 of this [ORDINANCE,
ORDER, OR RESOLUTION].
(8) "Records management officer" means the person designated
in Section 5 of this [ORDINANCE,
ORDER, OR RESOLUTION].
(9) "Records management plan" means the plan developed under
Section 7 of this
[ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION].
(10) "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. [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT] RECORDS DECLARED
PUBLIC PROPERTY. All [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT] records as defined
in Section 1 of this
ordinance are hereby declared to be the property of the [NAME OF
GOVERNMENT]. No [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT] 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 the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT] to provide for efficient,
economical, and effective controls over the creation, distribution,
organization, maintenance, use, and disposition of all [TYPE OF
GOVERNMENT] records through a comprehensive system of integrated
procedures for the management of records from their creation to
their ultimate disposition, consistent with the requirements of
the Texas Local Government Records Act and accepted records management
practice.
SECTION 5 (Notes,
2)
Version 1. DESIGNATION OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER.
The [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY, or TITLE OF CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER]
shall designate an individual, employed by the [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT],
to serve as Records Management Officer for the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT].
In the event of the resignation, retirement, dismissal, or removal
by action of the [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY, or TITLE OF CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE
OFFICER] of the individual so designated, the [TYPE OF GOVERNING
BODY, or TITLE OF CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER] shall promptly designate
another individual to serve as Records Management Officer. (Notes,
3) The individual designated as Records Management Officer
shall file his or her name with the director and librarian of the
Texas State Library within thirty days of the date of designation,
as provided by state law.
Version 2. DESIGNATION OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER.
The [NAME OF OFFICE], and the successive holders of said office,
shall serve as Records Management Officer for the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT].
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. ESTABLISHMENT OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEE; DUTIES. (Notes,
4) A Records Management Committee consisting of the [TITLES
OF POSITIONS] is hereby established. The committee shall:
(a) assist the Records Management Officer in the development
of policies and procedures governing the records management program;
(b) review the performance of the program on a regular basis
and propose changes and improvements if needed;
(c) review and approve records control schedules submitted by
the Records Management Officer;
(d) give final approval to the destruction of records in accordance
with approved records control schedules; and
(e) actively support and promote the records management program
throughout the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT].
SECTION 7. RECORDS MANAGEMENT PLAN TO BE DEVELOPED;
APPROVAL OF PLAN; AUTHORITY OF PLAN. (Notes,
5)
(a) The Records Management Officer and the Records Management
Committee shall develop a records management plan for the [NAME
OF GOVERNMENT] for submission to the [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY].
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 [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT], and
to properly preserve those records of the [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT]
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, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION]
effectively.
(b) Once approved by the [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY] the records
management plan shall be binding on all offices, departments,
divisions, programs, commissions, bureaus, boards, committees,
or similar entities of the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT] 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, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION]
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 [NAME OF GOVERNMENT].
SECTION 8. DUTIES OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER.
(Notes, 6) In addition
to other duties assigned in this [ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION],
the Records Management Officer shall:
(1) administer the records management program
and provide assistance to department heads in its implementation;
(2) plan, formulate, and prescribe records disposition policies,
systems, standards, and procedures;
(3) in cooperation with department heads identify
essential records and establish a disaster plan for each [TYPE
OF GOVERNMENT] office and department to ensure maximum availability
of the records in order to re-establish operations quickly and
with minimum disruption and expense;
(4) develop procedures to ensure the permanent
preservation of the historically valuable records of the [TYPE
OF GOVERNMENT];
(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
the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT];
(7) provide records management advice and assistance to all [TYPE
OF GOVERNMENT] departments by preparation of a manual or manuals
of procedure and policy and by on-site consultation;
(8) 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 [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT]'s
records control schedules are in compliance with state regulations;
(9) disseminate to the [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY]
and department heads information concerning state laws and administrative
rules relating to local government records;
(10) instruct Records Liaison Officers and other personnel in
policies and procedures of the records management plan and their
duties in the records management program;
(11) direct Records Liaison Officers or other personnel in the
conduct of records inventories in preparation for the development
of records control schedules as required by state law and this
[ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION];
(12) ensure that the maintenance, preservation,
microfilming, destruction, or other disposition of the [TYPE OF
GOVERNMENT] records is carried out in accordance with the policies
and procedures of the records management program and the requirements
of state law;
(13) maintain records on the volume of records
destroyed under approved records control schedules, the volume
of records microfilmed or stored electronically, and the estimated
cost and space savings as the result of such disposal or disposition;
(14) report annually to the [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY] on the implementation
of the records management plan in each department of the [NAME
OF GOVERNMENT], including summaries of the statistical and fiscal
data compiled under Subsection
(13); and
(15) bring to the attention of the [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY] non-compliance
by department heads or other [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT] personnel with
the policies and procedures of the records management program
or the Local Government Records Act.
SECTION 9. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPARTMENT
HEADS. In addition to other duties assigned in this [ORDINANCE,
ORDER, OR RESOLUTION], department heads shall:
(1) cooperate with the Records Management Officer in carrying
out the policies and procedures established in the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT]
for the efficient and economical management of records and in
carrying out the requirements of this [ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION];
(2) adequately document the transaction of government business
and the services, programs, and duties for which the department
head and his or her staff are responsible; and
(3) maintain the records in his or her care and carry out their
preservation, microfilming, destruction, or other disposition
only in accordance with the policies and procedures of the records
management program of the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT] and the requirements
of this [ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION].
SECTION 10. DESIGNATION OF RECORDS LIAISON
OFFICERS. Each department head shall designate a member of his
or her staff to serve as Records Liaison Officer for the implementation
of the records management program in the department. If the Records
Management Officer determines that in the best interests of the
records management program more than one Records Liaison Officer
should be designated for a department, the department head shall
designate the number of Records Liaison Officers specified by the
Records Management Officer. Persons designated as Records Liaison
Officers shall be thoroughly familiar with all the records created
and maintained by the department. In the event of the resignation,
retirement, dismissal, or removal by action of the department head
of a person designated as a Records Liaison Officer, the department
head shall promptly designate another person to fill the vacancy.
A department head may serve as Records Liaison Officer for his or
her department.
SECTION 11. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF
RECORDS LIAISON OFFICERS. In addition to other duties assigned
in this [ORDINANCE, ORDER, OR RESOLUTION], Records Liaison Officers
shall:
(a) conduct or supervise the conduct of inventories of the records
of the department in preparation for the development of records
control schedules;
(b) in cooperation with the Records Management Officer coordinate
and implement the policies and procedures of the records management
program in their departments; and
(c) disseminate information to department staff concerning the
records management program.
SECTION 12. RECORDS CONTROL SCHEDULES TO BE
DEVELOPED; APPROVAL; FILING WITH STATE.
(a) The Records Management Officer, in cooperation with department
heads and Records Liaison Officers, shall prepare records control
schedules on a department by department basis listing all records
created or received by the department and the retention period
for each record. (Notes, 7)
Records control schedules shall also contain such other information
regarding the disposition of [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT] records as the
records management plan may require. (Notes,
8)
(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 department and the records management
program of the [NAME OF GOVERNMENT].
(c)Version 1 (Notes, 9)
Before its adoption a records control schedule or amended schedule
for a department must be approved by the department head and the
members of the Records Management Committee.
(c) Version 2
Before its adoption a records control schedule or amended schedule
for a department must be approved by the department head, the
[TITLE OF OFFICE OF CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER], and the [TITLE OF OFFICE
OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER].
(d) Before its adoption 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 13. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECORDS CONTROL
SCHEDULES; DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS UNDER SCHEDULE.
(a) A records control schedule for a department that has been
approved and adopted under Section 12 shall be implemented by department heads and Records
Liaison Officers 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 the department head requests
in writing to the Records Management Committee that the record
be retained for an additional period. (Notes,
10)
(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 Records Management
Committee. (Notes, 11)
SECTION 14. 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 15. RECORDS CENTER. (Notes, 12) A records center, developed pursuant to the plan
required by Section 7,
shall be under the direct control and supervision of the Records
Management Officer. Policies and procedures regulating the operations
and use of the records center shall be contained in the records
management plan developed under Section
7.
SECTION 16. MICROGRAPHICS. (Notes, 13) Unless a micrographics program in a department is
specifically exempted by order of the [TYPE OF GOVERNING BODY],
all microfilming of records will be centralized and under the direct
supervision of the Records Management Officer. The records management
plan will establish policies and procedures for the microfilming
of [TYPE OF GOVERNMENT] records, including policies to ensure that
all microfilming is done in accordance with standards and procedures
for the microfilming of local government records established in
rules of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The plan
will also establish criteria for determining the eligibility of
records for microfilming, and protocols for ensuring that a microfilming
program that is exempted from the centralized operations is, nevertheless,
subject to periodic review by the records management officer as
to cost-effectiveness, administrative efficiency, and compliance
with commission rules.
_______________________
NOTES
1 This provision is modeled after the definition
of "custodian" in the Local Government Records Act (201.003(2)).
That definition reads: "'Custodian' means the appointed or elected
public officer who by the state constitution, state law, ordinance,
or administrative policy is in charge of an office that creates
or receives local government records." The authority under which
a person serves as a custodian of the records of a local government
office varies from government to government. The definition in the
ordinance or order should be modified to suit the circumstances
of each government.
2 It is important that either one or the
other of Section 5
(or a similar provision in those larger governments that have full-time
records managers) appear in the ordinance or order, despite the
fact that the records management officer may already have been designated
in a previous action of the governing body. The deadline for designating
a records management officer under the Texas Local Government Records
Act is June 1, 1990; the deadline for establishing a records management
program by ordinance or order is January 1, 1991. In practice, however,
many local governments will choose to adopt an ordinance or order
and designate the records management officer at the same time before
the June 1 deadline.
Either one or the other of these sections can be modified appropriately
if the local government, through a contract or agreement under the
Interlocal Cooperation Act (Article 4413(32c)), will have records
management services provided by a records management officer employed
by another local government or by an administrative agency created
under the contract or agreement.
Other than requiring that the designated records management officer
be an employee of the local government (or of another local government
or agency through the Interlocal Cooperation Act), the Local Government
Act does not limit the authority of a governing body to designate
whomever it wishes. State law, however, charges governing bodies
with duties and responsibilities designed to promote the effective
and efficient management of records and the preservation of historical
resources. The records management officer will be the principal
agent of the governing body for implementing the ordinance or order
and because the records management program will affect every department
of the local government, it is a matter of managerial efficiency
that there be as few intermediary personnel between the records
management officer and the governing body as possible. If a part-time
records management officer is designated, he or she should be someone
whose other duties are commensurate with the government-wide responsibilities
and authority for the local government's records program as provided
by state law and this ordinance or order.
In larger governments, a records management program headed by a
full-time, professional records manager should never be accorded
anything less than the sub-department status in the organizational
chart of the government.
3 Although state law directs the governing
body to designate a records management officer, nothing in the law
prevents the governing body from delegating this authority to the
chief administrative officer, who may customarily appoint other
department and program heads. The name of the individual designated
must still be entered in the minutes of the governing body although
he or she may have been designated by the chief administrative officer.
4 We recommend that this provision for the
establishment of a records management committee be included in the
ordinances or orders of all but the smallest governments. Governing
bodies of small local governments may have the time to take an active
and direct role in the development of such policies and procedures
and, in effect, would serve as a body similar to the records management
committee contemplated in this provision. In larger governments,
however, press of other business is usually such that the governing
body will wish to delegate the task of assisting the records management
officer in developing policies and procedures for the program and
in overseeing aspects of its operation to a committee. The membership
of the committee should be kept small and should not include all
department heads in the government. The chief attorney for the local
government and its chief financial officer should be members of
the committee. Other officials traditionally found on such committees
are the chief administrator of the government (e.g., the city manager
of a municipality; the superintendent of a school district); the
risk manager, if there is such an officer; and a member of the governing
body.
Local governments with full-time, professional records managers
sometimes dispense with the establishment of a formal records management
committee under the assumptions that the records manager is a professional
who is well versed in the principles and strategies of effective
records management and that he or she will consult on a regular
basis with the appropriate officials in the development of a formal
program. A decision not to establish a records management committee
either in small governments or in governments with records management
departments does not affect the need for approval of records control
schedules provided for in Section
12.
The duty described under Subsection
(d) is optional for this committee, but should not be
optional for the program. Destruction of records under an approved
schedule should not be fully automatic. State law forbids the destruction
of records on which either an open records request or a law suit
is pending, although the retention periods for the records may have
expired. There may also occasionally be other factors that warrant
keeping a record beyond its retention period. Provision should be
made, as it is in this model in Section
13, for the final approval for the destruction of records
under an approved schedule by either the records management committee
or other officers, if a records management committee is not formed.
5 If a records management committee is not
established, this section should be amended to direct the records
management officer alone to prepare a plan for adoption or to designate
certain officers of the government to assist in the development
of the plan. The difference between the formal committee of Section
6 and a group of officers designated to assist in this
section is that the latter is ad hoc and temporary and will play
no continuing role in the records management program unless specified
to do so in other sections of the ordinance or order.
6 The wording of Subsections (1), (3), (4),
(9), and (12) is derived
directly from the duties and responsibilities of records management
officers set out in state law in § 203.023, Local Government Code.
The other duties prescribed are standard features in the centralized
direction of records management programs. These duties fall well
within the scope of the definition of records management in Section
2 of this model, the wording of which is taken directly
from the definition of records management offered in the Texas Local
Government Records Act (§ 201.003(13).
If money is budgeted separately for the records management program
in a local government, an additional duty of the records management
officer would be to prepare an annual budget for the program. Of
course, in larger governments with full-time records managers and
departments, the preparation of an annual budget is an important
duty of the records management officer.
The duties of the records management officer set out in this section
should be expanded for those governments with formal records management
departments and professional, full-time records managers. In the
successful records management programs throughout the country, the
authority of professional records managers in local governments
typically extends to mail room operations, print shops, and data
processing. In such governments, the records manager also usually
exercises review authority, sometimes even veto authority, over
the purchase of filing cabinets and other records storage equipment.
Of course, any of these standard features of formal records management
departments may be included among the duties of the part-time records
management officer as well.
7 State law requires that all local governments
submit records control schedules listing all records created or
received by the government to the director and librarian of the
Texas State Library no later than January 2, 1995. This deadline
is not included in the model. First, Section
4 already states that the records management program shall be
consistent with the requirements of state law. More important, however,
an essential feature of a good records management plan developed
under Section 7 is a timetable
for the completion of elements of the records program. Projections
(usually on a department-by-department basis) for the completion
of records control schedules, which in any case must be before the
state-mandated deadline, are best left to the plan rather than the
ordinance or order.
8 In addition to stating a retention period
for each records series as state law requires, records control schedules
customarily contain other information regarding the life cycle or
special characteristics of records: at what point inactive or semi-active
records will be moved from offices to records storage areas, when
records eligible for microfilming will be filmed, which records
require special storage or handling because they are essential,
have permanent retention, or have restricted access. Since these
additional elements in a records control schedule will differ somewhat
from government to government, they are best defined in the records
management plan rather than the ordinance or order.
9 Two versions of Subsection
(c) are given. Version 2 should
be used if a formal records management committee was not established
in Section 6. It
is traditional for the chief legal officer and the chief financial
officer of a local government to review and approve records control
schedules before their adoption; the approval of other officers
is optional. It is also often wise to insert a default clause, giving
the designated officers a certain number of days to review and approve
a schedule, otherwise the schedule is adopted automatically. The
disinterest of a designated officer in the goals and purposes of
the records program should not be allowed to jeopardize the program.
Likewise, under Version 1, a provision
might be inserted at this point providing that schedules are adopted
by a majority vote of the committee; again, to forestall the disinterest
of a single member from compromising the records program.
10 The request should go to the Records
Management Officer, if a Records Management Committee was not established
in Section 6.
This Subsection may be in the records management plan and not the
ordinance or order. It is included here because of its crucial importance
in successful records management programs. One of the fundamental
tenets of records management is that a record be destroyed when
its value has ceased for the organization that maintains it. The
duration of the record's value has already been determined by the
setting of the retention period on the records control schedule.
Barring, therefore, pending open records requests or lawsuits or
the occasional special circumstance, a local government's records
management program should provide for the mandatory destruction
of records whose retention periods have expired. Discretionary programs
in which department heads may dispose of records under schedule
never result in the benefits in cost and space savings and administrative
efficiency a well-designed program is designed to deliver. In practice,
the submission of requests from department heads for an extension
of a retention period may result in the amendment of the retention
period on the records control schedule.
11 Or, if a records management committee
has not been established, destruction should be authorized by the
same officers designated under Section
12 to approve records control schedules. The same provisions
relating to a majority vote or the designation of a time limit for
approval may also be inserted at this point.
12 This section is optional depending on
whether or not the local government makes provision for an area
in which to store semi-active or inactive records. The true success
of a records management program in all but the smallest governments
largely depends on the separation of active from inactive records
and the removal of the latter from expensive office space to storage
areas in which records can be economically stored in uniform-sized,
well-labeled boxes on steel shelving laid out in a configuration
that allows for the storage of the maximum number of boxes given
the space available. Records centers range from entire buildings
devoted exclusively to records storage to areas in existing buildings
set aside for that purpose. It is absolutely imperative for the
success of a records program that the records storage area, however
large or small, be under the direct authority of the records management
officer and operated under procedures embodied in the records management
plan. For the records center to be under another officer is to defeat
the entire concept of a centralized, government-wide records management
program, the only kind of program that brings results.
13 An optional section depending on whether
the local government microfilms or not. The section
is written on the basis of an in-house microfilming operation. If
all microfilming is done by service bureaus, the section should
be amended to provide centralized supervision and coordination of
microfilming service contracts. There may be certain ongoing microfilming
projects (e.g. Computer Output Microfilming (COM) by a police department)
which are impracticable for centralized operations, but central
review of departmental level programs is an important part of effective
records management. Again, as with records centers, it is imperative
that the records management officer have control over centralized
micrographics.
There is no provision in the model concerning the electronic storage
of records. In larger governments that contemplate putting data
processing under the records management officer, a provision for
that purpose should be inserted. Other types of electronic storage,
especially those involving PCs and optical disk systems, are not
easily subject to centralized operations, but they should be subject
in the records management program to centralized review and oversight,
particularly with regard to security for any essential records stored
electronically. Records of permanent value can be stored electronically
only with the prior permission of the Texas State Library and Archives
Commission and are subject to procedural rules laid down by the
commission. State law provides that requests for authorization to
store records electronically are submitted by the records management
officer. It is important, therefore, for the records management
plan to include policies and procedures regulating the electronic
storage of records in the government.
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