§ 2-358. 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:

Electronic storage means the maintenance of city data in the form of digital electronic signals on a computer hard disk, magnetic tape, optical disk or similar machine-readable medium.

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

Microfilm means roll microfilm, microfiche, computer output microfilm (COM), and all other formats produced by any method of microphotography or other means of miniaturization on film.

Municipal record.

(1)

The term "municipal record" means 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, created or received by the city or any of its officers or employees pursuant to law, including an ordinance, or in the transaction of public business, are declared to be the records of the city and shall be created, maintained and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this section or procedures authorized by it.

(2)

The term "municipal record" does not include:

a.

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

b.

Notes, journals, diaries, and similar documents created by an officer or employee of the city for the officer's or employee's personal convenience;

c.

Blank forms;

d.

Stocks of publications;

e.

Library and museum materials acquired solely for the purposes of reference or display;

f.

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;

g.

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 record control schedule is given as permanent.

Record 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 purposes of reducing the costs and improving the efficiency of record-keeping. The term includes the development of record 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, electronic and other records storage systems.

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.

Source document means the city record from which record data is obtained for transfer to another storage media.

(Code 1995, § 1.3101)