Morgan Hill Municipal Code Ch. 2.10 Management of City Records

It is the purpose and intent of this chapter to establish procedures for the management of city records.

(Ord. 705 N.S. § 1 (III-6-1.01), 1984)

The policy of the city is to provide for efficient, economical and effective controls over creation, distribution, organization, maintenance, use and disposition of all city records.

(Ord. 705 N.S. § 1 (III-6-1.02), 1984)

The city clerk shall be responsible for the administration of a uniform records management program assisting all city departments.

(Ord. 705 N.S. § 1 (III-6-1.03), 1984)

A. "Appraisal" means the process of determining the value and thus the disposition of records based upon their (1) administrative, legal, fiscal and historical uses; (2) relative activity; (3) relationship to other records; and (4) evidentiary and informational value.

B. "Disposition" means actions taken with regard to records and nonrecords following their appraisal. These actions include the transfer of inactive records to the Records Center or the destruction of records or nonrecords no longer required in the course of the city's business.

C. "Duplicate record" means copies or reproductions of original records, whether or not in the same physical form as the original, which are retained for personal reference or for operational requirements.

D. "Maintain" means to provide custody and care for a record.

E. "Nonrecord" means material which is not retained in the regular course of business or is a temporary aid, not created for the purpose of preserving its own documentary or informational content for future reference. This includes but is not limited to:

1. Transmittal letters and acknowledgements which do not add any information to the material transmitted;

2. Requests for printed material after the requests have been filled;

3. Informal notes, worksheets, and rough drafts of letters, memoranda or reports that do not represent basic steps in the preparation of documents;

4. Shorthand notes, including stenographic notebooks and stenotype tapes, and dictating media which have been transcribed;

5. Miscellaneous notices of community affairs, employee meetings, or holidays;

6. Stocks of publications or unused blank forms that are kept for supply purposes only;

7. Tickler, follow-up or suspense copies of correspondence;

8. Extra copies of documents already in an official file;

9. Publications or reference materials received or acquired from outside sources such as professional organizations, conferences, seminars or workshops;

10. Library and museum materials made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes;

11. Tapes of city council meetings and/or meetings of any other city boards or commissions following transcription into minutes and approval and adoption of such minutes by the appropriate body has been made.

F. "Official record" means any record containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business, prepared, owned, used or retained by any city department, regardless of physical form or characteristics.

G. "Original record" means the first or initial documentation, that of which anything else is a copy or reproduction; or, a duplicate record with any original documentation.

H. "Record" means all books, papers, maps, exhibits, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, punched cards and other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, produced, received, owned or used by a city department and preserved because of the informational value of data in them or as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the city.

I. "Record copy" means a reproduction of an original record which is retained in lieu of the original record as the official record of the city.

J. "Records disposition schedule" means a listing of records series by department, indicating for each series the length of time records are to be maintained in office areas and in the Records Center. The schedule constitutes authority for the destruction of records listed thereon, after required retention periods have lapsed.

K. "Record series" means file units or documents arranged in accordance with a filing system or maintained as a unit because they relate to a particular subject or function, result from the same activity, have a particular form, or because of some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt or use. Record series may consist of records of a single type or format and can be described, handled and disposed of or retained as a unit.

L. "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing and every other means of recording upon any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums and other documents, retained in the ordinary course of business. Writings are record or nonrecord material.

(Ord. 705 N.S. § 1 (III-6-1.04), 1984)

A. The records disposition schedule will serve as the basis for the city's records management program. The head of each department shall prepare a records disposition schedule for his/her department and any subsequent proposed amendments thereto. With the assistance of the records management officer, this preparation shall include:

1. A physical inventory and appraisal of all records to determine their administrative, fiscal, legal and historical value;

2. Identification of an official record series title for all department records and specific and accurate descriptions of records listed thereunder in accordance with guidelines developed by the city clerk. Terms used as record series titles or as description of files on the records disposition schedule, or any revision thereto, shall be descriptive. They shall not include the use of the words "miscellaneous" or "various," or words of similar connotation; nor shall any such schedule or request bearing such nomenclature be submitted to the city clerk and the city attorney for their consideration and approval;

3. A periodic review or audit of records to make sure they are properly covered by the records disposition schedule.

B. Following the review or audit, the city clerk will be notified of any proposed amendments to the records disposition schedule that are needed. Such amendments may include the addition of new record series titles to the records disposition schedule, or requests to have superseded record series titles removed from the records disposition schedule.

C. Final approval of the records disposition schedule shall require the written consent of the department head, the city attorney and the city clerk. The records disposition schedule must then be approved by the city council by resolution. Amendments and revisions thereto shall require the written consent of the department head, the city attorney and the city clerk.

(Ord. 705 N.S. § 1 (III-6-1.05), 1984)

A. The city clerk shall:

1. Be responsible for the maintenance of all official records, with the following exceptions:

a. Records identified pursuant to this chapter in the records disposition schedule, which are entrusted to the custody of other city officers or departments,

b. Newly created or unidentified record series, which shall be the responsibility of the originating department, until properly identified within the records disposition schedule,

c. Inactive records which have been transferred to non-city organizations,

d. Records which are legally maintained by other government agencies;

2. Be responsible for the administration of a uniform records management program assisting all city departments, and for the development, administration and coordination of procedures thereunder;

3. Administer a Records Center for the efficient and economical storage, maintenance and servicing of inactive city records;

4. Appoint a records management officer who shall serve in the office of the city clerk as the head of the records management program.

B. The records management officer, under the direction of the city clerk, shall:

1. Provide effective control over the identification appraisal, maintenance, protection, preservation, transfer, retention and disposition of all city records. This shall include:

a. Providing assistance and guidelines to departments in the preparation of their records disposition schedules and amendments thereto,

b. Establishing proper procedures for securing necessary revisions to the records disposition schedule, with the approval of the city attorney,

c. Providing direct technical assistance and guidance to departments that will aid in resolving specific files and related records problems;

2. Operate the Records Center in an orderly and efficient manner. This operation shall include:

a. Providing information, assistance and records to using departments to ensure optimum utilization of the Records Center,

b. Notifying using departments periodically when records held by the Records Center are eligible for destruction,

c. Causing to be destroyed records held by the Records Center only after receiving proper authorization from the responsible department head.

C. Each department head shall:

1. Cooperate with the city clerk to assure proper administration and implementation of the city's records management program;

2. Ensure the proper application of the records disposition schedule to his/her department's records;

3. Ensure that records are transferred to the Records Center for storage at the end of the office retention period listed in the records disposition schedule;

4. Review the records disposition schedule and recommend to the city clerk any amendments thereto which are necessary due to changing requirements;

5. Comply with procedures mentioned in this chapter regarding the destruction of records and nonrecords;

6. Appoint a records coordinator to serve as liaison between the records management officer and the department and to assist in the implementation of the records management program.

(Ord. 705 N.S. § 1 (III-6-1.06), 1984)

A. Eligibility. No record shall be destroyed until it has been properly inventoried, appraised and entered in the records disposition schedule. Furthermore, before a record is eligible for destruction, the department head must first make the following determinations:

1. Required retention periods listed in the records disposition schedule have lapsed;

2. The record is maintained by said department;

3. The record is no longer required to fulfill any administrative, fiscal, legal or historical interests of the city or the public;

4. The record series title is descriptive and does not include the use of the words "miscellaneous" or "various," or words of similar connotation.

B. Procedures. Before records are destroyed, the department head shall:

1. In compliance with the records disposition schedule, exercise a final review over all records eligible for destruction for the purpose of determining any further administrative, fiscal, legal or historical needs;

2. Ensure that if the records disposition schedule does not specify records for transfer to the Records Center, the records shall be destroyed at the end of the listed office retention period in compliance with the records disposition schedule;

3. Ensure that if the records disposition schedule does specify records for transfer to the Records Center, and this has not occurred, the records shall be destroyed, providing they have exceeded their total retention requirement (office plus Records Center);

4. Destroy duplicate records and nonrecords when they are no longer needed in the course of the city's business.

(Ord. 705 N.S. § 1 (III-6-1.07), 1984)