§ 2-132. Definitions.

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

Essential record means any record of the town necessary to the resumption or continuation of its operations in an emergency or disaster, to the re-creation of its legal and financial status, or to the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people of the state.

Municipal record means 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 a local government or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law, including an ordinance, or in the transaction of public business. The term "municipal record" does not include:

(1)

Extra identical copies of documents created only for convenience of reference or research by officers or employees of the town;

(2)

Notes, journals, diaries, and similar documents created by an officer or employee of the town 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; or

(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.

Permanent record means any record of the town for which the retention period on a records control schedule is given as permanent.

Records and control schedule means a document prepared by or under the authority of a records management officer listing the records maintained by the town, 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 purposes of reducing the costs and improving the efficiency of recordkeeping. The term "records management" includes the development of records and 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 micrographic and electronic and other records storage systems.

Records management officer means the person designated in section 2-135.

Records management plan means the plan developed under section 2-136.

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. 1993-17, § 1, 12-8-1993)

State law reference

Definitions, V.T.C.A., Government Code § 441.141.