Chapter 1.10 — RECORDS MANAGEMENT

Sections:

1.10.010 Establishment and administration of records management program.

1.10.020 Citation of chapter.

1.10.030 Definitions.

1.10.040 Responsibilities of City Clerk.

1.10.050 Custodianship of municipal records— Responsibilities of officers and employees.

1.10.060 Micrographics of municipal records.

1.10.070 Electronic communications.

1.10.080 Computer data retention.

1.10.090 Destruction of duplicates of municipal records.

1.10.100 Destruction of municipal records.

The City Clerk of the City of Anaheim is authorized to establish and administer a records management program for the City of Anaheim in accordance with all applicable requirements of law including the provisions of this chapter. Such records management program shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, a systematic plan to preserve and keep in order all records of the City of Anaheim as may be required by law or as may be necessary for conduct of the business of the City with the purpose of achieving the following goals:

.010 Release space and reduce the need for storage;

.020 Establish an efficient retrieval operation for municipal records;

.030 Provide for routine disposition of paperwork; and

.040 Maintain security over municipal records. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the records management program of the City of Anaheim, California. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997.)

For purposes of this chapter, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed herein:

“City” or “City of Anaheim” means and includes the City of Anaheim and the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency (City of Anaheim, Successor Agency of the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency), Anaheim Housing Authority, Anaheim Industrial Development Authority, Anaheim Public Financing Authority, Anaheim Public Improvement Corporation, and Anaheim Housing and Public Improvements Authority.

“Destruction of records laws” means Article 4 of Chapter 1 of Division 1 of Title 4 (commencing with Section 34090), of the Government Code of the State of California, or any successor provisions thereto.

“Municipal records” or “records” means all records, whether of public or private origin, maintained or retained by the City of Anaheim in the conduct of the public business.

“Public records” has the same meaning and definition set forth in the Public Records Act.

“Public Records Act” means Chapter 1 of Division 10 of Title 1 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of the Government Code of the State of California, or any successor provisions thereto.

“Records management program” means a plan formulated to establish a City-wide system that achieves integrated control of departmental subsystems so that an orderly and efficient flow of municipal records is provided from creation to ultimate disposition.

“Records series” means records accumulated over a period of time and arranged in an organized file or set of files which can be described, handled and disposed of as a unit. A records series may consist of records of a single type or format, or of records kept together because they relate to a particular subject or result from one activity. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

The City Clerk shall have responsibility for, but not necessarily limited to, the following areas of records management:

.010 Development and circulation of such rules, regulations and policies as may be necessary and proper to implement and maintain the City of Anaheim's records management program;

.020 Development of a retention and disposition schedule for all municipal records;

.030 Consultation and assistance to City departments in all areas of records management, including records maintenance, transfer and disposition;

.040 Provision of permanent preservation of historical records; and

.050 Development and institution of a vital records program to ensure the safety of essential records in the event of a disaster. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

EMPLOYEES.

.010 All records created or received by a City department shall remain the property of the City of Anaheim. The department head of each City department shall be deemed the legal custodian of all records maintained in such department. The City Clerk shall be deemed the legal custodian of historical records.

.020 It shall be the duty of each officer and employee of the City of Anaheim to protect, preserve, store and/or transfer municipal records in accordance with state and federal statutes, this chapter, City regulations, and the rules promulgated and approved by the City Clerk.

.030 The City Council may, by resolution, order the transfer of specifically identified records to a different custodian, including document depositories established for litigation purposes. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

.010 Definitions of the micrographics program:

“Index” means a list describing the items of a collection and where they may be found; a catalog.

“Microfilm” means a film containing photographic records or images considerably reduced in size from the original material filmed; this term also includes microfiche.

“Microform” means a generic name for any medium containing microimages, i.e., reduced images.

“Microform record” means any record preserved in one of the various formats of microfilm.

“Micrographics” means the art of reducing any form of information to a microform medium. Also termed microphotography or microfilming.

“Micrographics Officer” means the City Clerk or any department head of a department of the City having custody and control of such municipal record.

.020 Any micrographics officer is authorized to provide a micrographics operation which accurately and permanently copies, reproduces or originates on microform media any municipal record of the City of Anaheim under such micrographics officer's custody and control.

.030 Types of Records to be Filmed. The micrographics operation under the direction of any micrographics officer may be applied to any municipal record of the City of Anaheim provided such record can be reproduced on film with full legibility. Any microform records created pursuant to the authorization of this chapter shall be deemed under the custody and control of the micrographics officer responsible for creating such microform records.

.040 Indices to Microform Records. The micrographics officer having custody and control of any microform records shall index such microform records.

.050 Micrographic Standards. The record shall be photographed, microphotographed or reproduced on film of a type approved for permanent photographic records by the National Bureau of Standards. The device used to reproduce such records on film shall be one which accurately and legibly reproduces the original thereof in all details. A true copy of archival quality of such film shall be kept in a safe and separate place for security purposes.

.060 Certification of Microform Records. The micrographics officer responsible for creating such records shall check and certify that each microform record is a true and correct duplication of the original municipal record.

.070 Public Access to Microform Records. The microform records shall be made as accessible for public reference as the records in their original form; provided, however, that such records shall be deemed public records available for public inspection only to the extent provided by law. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

.010 Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall be deemed to have the following meanings:

“Electronic communication” or “communication” means any communication to, from, between or among any City official(s) or employee(s) by use of an electronic communication system for the purpose of, or to facilitate, any business of the City.

“Electronic communication system” or “system” means any system, device, hardware, software, or other equipment designed and used for purposes of transmitting and/or receiving communications by any form of electronic mail, text messaging, or any network of interconnected computers, including but not limited to the Internet.

.020 Purpose. Electronic communications are an important and effective tool which facilitate the conduct of the City’s business through communications in an efficient, expeditious and cost-effective manner. Electronic communications are not preserved and retained by the City or its officers or employees in all instances because they are often of a transitory nature similar to telephonic communications. The electronic communication systems used by the City for such communications do not reasonably and practicably permit the indefinite or permanent retention and/or retrieval of all electronic communications. At the same time, the City recognizes its legal obligations relating to the preservation and/or public disclosure of certain records pursuant to the requirements of the destruction of records laws and/or the Public Records Act. The purpose of this section is to provide guidance to City officers and employees relating to the creation and preservation of electronic communications in order to facilitate the optimal use of such communications and to assure compliance with any applicable provisions of law with regard thereto.

.030 Preservation of Electronic Communications. An electronic communication must be preserved by a public officer or employee if either: (1) a law expressly requires such communication to be kept, or (2) preservation of such communication is necessary or convenient to the discharge of the public officer's or employee’s duties and such communication was made or retained for the purpose of preserving its informational content for future City use or reference. All other electronic communications (including marketing emails and transitory communications) may be deleted without preserving the informational content of the communication.

If an electronic communication is required to be preserved under this subsection .030, it shall be retained in accordance with the approved retention period for the file or record series in which such communication is placed, or to which it relates, as established by resolution of the City Council; provided, however, the retention provisions of this section shall not be deemed to impose any legal requirement or obligation on the City or any of its officers and employees not otherwise required or established by any other provision of law.

In the event a public inspection request is made pursuant to the Public Records Act, or a demand by subpoena or court order is received by the City, for any electronic communication in existence at the time such request or demand is received, the City officer or employee having control of the electronic communication shall use his or her best efforts, by any reasonable means available, to preserve the communication until it is determined whether such communication is subject to preservation, or public inspection or production, pursuant to any requirement of law. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

.010 Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall be deemed to have the following meanings:

“Draft” means any draft or uncompleted document in any stage of preparation, existing in electronic form in a data processing system or computer, and which is later electronically modified, revised, amended, redrafted, manipulated or completed, or is electronically deleted from the electronic data processing system or computer, and where it is not necessary that the informational content of such draft or uncompleted document be preserved for future City use.

“Computer data” or “data” means any information or data created by any City officer or employee for City business purposes and existing in electronic form in any data processing system or computer.

.020 Purpose. The creation, manipulation and use of computer data by City officers and employees is an essential, efficient and cost-effective tool used in the conduct of City business. Computer data, by its nature and purpose, is customarily created in draft form and such draft is usually electronically manipulated and revised, or electronically deleted in whole or part. It is not practical, necessary, efficient or cost effective for City officers and employees to preserve every draft of every document created, generated or manipulated by use of an electronic data processing or computer system. At the same time, the City recognizes its legal obligations relating to the retention and/or public disclosure of certain records pursuant to the requirements of the destruction of records laws and/or the Public Records Act. The purpose of this section is to provide guidance to City officers and employees relating to the creation, manipulation and preservation of computer data in a manner which facilitates the reasonable and efficient use of such data for City business purposes while assuring that data created for City business purposes and existing in electronic form which is either required to be preserved by law, or which was made or retained for the purpose of preserving the informational content thereof for future City use or reference, is preserved and available as may be required by any applicable provision of law.

.030 Preservation of Computer Data. Computer data must be preserved by the public officer or employee having control of such data if either: (1) a law expressly requires such data to be kept, or (2) such data is necessary or convenient to the discharge of the public officer’s or employee's duties and such data was made or retained for the purpose of preserving its informational content for future City use or reference. All other computer data may be deleted without preserving its informational content.

Any computer data which is required to be preserved pursuant to this subsection .030 shall be preserved in accordance with the approved retention period for the file or record series in which such computer data is placed, or to which such computer data relates, as established by resolution of the City Council pursuant to this chapter; provided, however, the retention provisions of this section shall not be deemed to impose any legal requirement or obligation on the City or any of its officers and employees not otherwise required or established by any other provision of law.

In the event a public inspection request is made pursuant to the Public Records Act, or a demand for production by subpoena or court order is received, for any computer data in existence at the time such request or demand is received, the City official or employee having control of such computer data shall use his or her best efforts, by any reasonable means available, to preserve such data until it is determined whether such data is subject to preservation, or public inspection or production, pursuant to any requirement of law.

.040 Duplicate Records. Any hard copy (tangible nonelectronic document) which is a duplicate of any computer data but contains markings (signatures, notes, etc.) not present on the computer data, and which is otherwise required to be preserved by law, shall not be destroyed unless such document is photographed, microphotographed or otherwise reproduced on film, optical disk or any other medium in compliance with Government Code Section 34090.5, or destruction has been authorized pursuant to a resolution of the City Council in conformance with Government Code Section 34090. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

Municipal records which are kept and maintained by a City department which are duplicates of records kept and maintained by another City department may be destroyed by the department keeping and maintaining the duplicates without complying with the provisions of Section 1.10.100 of this chapter under the following procedure:

.010 The department head of the City department desiring to destroy the duplicate records shall find in writing that the duplicates are no longer needed by that department and certify that another City department will continue to keep and maintain the records (“master records”).

.020 Following receipt of the certification required by subsection .010, the duplicate records may be destroyed.

.030 A record of destruction of the duplicate records shall be kept and maintained by the department destroying the duplicates.

.040 The City Clerk shall prepare and distribute forms to each City department to be used for purposes of this section.

.050 Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the destruction of master records by any department upon compliance with the provisions of Section 1.10.100 of this Code. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997; Ord. 6566 § 1 (part); January 23, 2024.)

.010 Each City department shall develop a records retention schedule for all municipal records in the custody of such department. Such schedule shall be deemed the official records retention schedule for such department upon approval thereof by the City Council.

.020 Following expiration of the retention period specified in the records retention schedule for any record in the custody of any City department, the department head of such department, upon a finding that such record is no longer required, may request preparation of a resolution by the City Attorney authorizing the destruction of such record without the making of a copy thereof. Such resolution shall require the approval of the City Attorney and the City Council. Nothing contained herein shall authorize the destruction of any record except as the same may be authorized by the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 1 of Division 1 of Title 4 (commencing with Section 34090) of the Government Code of the State of California.

.030 Any municipal record other than audio recordings may be destroyed without otherwise complying with the requirements of subsection .020 of this section provided such record is preserved in microform in the manner specified in Section 34090.5 of the Government Code, Section 1.10.060 of this chapter, or in digital form on hard drive, optical disk or CD-ROM, and in accordance with any other requirements of law. (Ord. 5608 § 2 (part); July 22, 1997.)