Oceanside Municipal Code Art. XIV Records Management Program

The declared purpose of article XIV is to provide for the proper and efficient management of the records for the City of Oceanside. This records management program defines responsibilities and procedures that will promote the effective management of the city records throughout their entire life cycle—From the point at which they are created or received, through their use, maintenance and final disposition or permanent deposit in the city archives.

(Ord. No. 04-OR870-1, § 1, 10-6-04)

(a) Active record means a record that is referenced or used on a regular basis, a frequently used record that needs to be available for immediate access by users.

(b) Administrative value means the value attributed to a record series by the creating office in the performance of its assigned operations within the city; the period of time a record may be needed within the organization for administrative or operational purposes.

(c) Archives center means a separate portion within the records center established for housing records that require long-term or permanent retention or environmentally controlled surroundings.

(d) City or City of Oceanside means and includes the City of Oceanside, Oceanside Community Development Commission, and the Oceanside Small Craft Harbor District Board of Directors, including all subsidiary agencies.

(e) City clerk means the city clerk or the designated representative of the City Clerk of the City of Oceanside. The position of city clerk also includes the following titles: Community development commission secretary and small craft harbor district board secretary.

(f) Disposition means the actions taken with regard to non-current or inactive records pursuant to legislation, regulations, or administrative procedures. Actions include retention in the records center, incorporation into the city archives or destruction.

(g) Electronic record means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. Accordingly, information stored on a computer hard drive, floppy disc, optical disc, facsimiles, or audio and video tape recordings, among other records, are considered electronic records under this article.

(h) Fiscal value means the value attributed to a records series, which documents financial transactions; the period of time a record must be retained for financial reasons or for tax/audit requirements.

(i) Historical value means the determination that records possess value in documenting the history of the city and are thus suitable for permanent preservation.

(j) Inactive record means a record that is referenced or used fewer than four (4) times annually; a record that does not need to be immediately available, but must be retained for legal reasons or because users have an infrequent need to access it and it has not yet met its retention period.

(k) Information processing systems mean computer equipment and programs, electronic data interchange, electronic mail, facsimile, telex, telecopying, scanning, or similar technologies.

(l) Information retrieval (hardcopy documents) means a set of procedures, usually automated, which refers to the procedures necessary to track, locate, and retrieve files and documents as required for return to the requesting department.

(m) Information retrieval (electronic records) means a set of procedures, usually automated, which refers to the systematic manipulation of textual information so that it can be easily located. The data contained in documents are indexed, either by key words and phrases and/or full text indexing and stored in such a manner that they can be retrieved in response to specific requests.

(n) Microfilm/micrographic means a photographic reproduction on film, of a printed page, document, or other object. Page size is greatly reduced for ease of storage and it can be re-enlarged for retrieval and readability.

(o) Non-current records: See inactive records.

(p) Non-record means those materials such as reference books, periodicals, professional journals, exhibit materials, etc., created or acquired and preserved solely for reference use or exhibition purposes; working papers, rough notes and drafts; extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience or reference, and multiple copies of city publications shall not be included within the definition of records as used in this chapter.

(q) Permanent record means any record needing or requiring long term or indefinite preservation to meet administrative, fiscal, legal or historical criteria.

(r) Public records include any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the city's business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any city agency regardless of physical form or characteristics including electronic records. "Public record" does not include the records and files exempted by law or those records that are not retained by the city in the ordinary course of business.

(s) Public Records Act means Chapter 3.5 of Division 7 of Title 1 (commencing with Section 6250) of the Government Code of the State of California, or any successor provisions thereto.

(t) Record means information that documents a transaction or activity by or with any public officer, agency or employee of state government or its political subdivisions. Regardless of physical form or characteristic, the recorded information is a record if it is produced, collected, received or retained in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business. Formats can include paper, microform, electronic records, magnetic tapes, maps, disks, photographs, film and sound recordings.

(u) Records center means a central repository maintained by the city clerk's office for housing inactive records until they have met their specific retention requirements, and records that are stored and preserved due to legal, operating or historical reasons.

(v) Records management means the field of management responsible for the systematic control of the processing, use, protection, storage, and final disposition of all city records, including the establishment and maintenance of a system of filing and retrieving city records.

(w) Record 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 managed as a unit. A record 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.

(x) Records series titles are the descriptive nomenclature that identifies each collective record series.

(y) Retention schedule means a comprehensive list of record series maintained by departments and is the legal authority to retain and dispose of official public records by documenting which records require temporary storage; which records have administrative, historic, legal or research value; which records should be retained in perpetuity; and which records should be destroyed because they no longer have any administrative, fiscal or legal value. The retention schedule indicates the timetable during which records are maintained in primary office space or transferred to the records center. Retention schedules must be approved by the city council prior to implementation.

(z) Vital record is a record containing information necessary to reestablish or continue the operation of an organization in the event of a disaster. It is those records that are important in establishing the legal and financial position of the city and/or those important in preserving the rights of the city, its employees, and the city's citizens.

(Ord. No. 04-OR870-1, § 1, 10-6-04)

All records created and retained in the normal course of business shall be the property of the City of Oceanside. No city official or employee has, by virtue of his/her position, any personal or property right to such Records even though she/he may have developed or compiled them. The unauthorized destruction, removal from files or use of such records is prohibited. Outgoing officials and employees shall deliver such Records to the city clerk or their successors as follows:

(a) Elected officials: Upon leaving office, elected officials shall provide their files to be inventoried and transferred to the city clerk for evaluation of historical significance and storage.

(b) Appointed officials: Upon leaving office, appointed officials shall deliver their files to the city clerk or their successor for determination of administrative, fiscal, legal, or historical value and storage.

(c) Employees: Upon leaving office, employees shall leave their files in their workspace or pass to other staff as determined by supervisory personnel.

Failure to comply with the requirements of this section shall subject persons to the penalties prescribed in section 2.86(c) herein and as further set forth in Oceanside City Code Chapter 1.

(Ord. No. 04-OR870-1, § 1, 10-6-04)

(a) Officials and employees. It shall be the duty of each official and employee of the City of Oceanside to protect, preserve, store, transfer, use, and manage city records in accordance with this article and all applicable federal, state or local law.

(b) Every city official and employee having custody of any city record, filed or deposited with the city or placed in his or her hands for any city purpose shall not do any of the following as to city records:

(1) Steal, remove, or secrete records;

(2) Destroy, mutilate, or deface records;

(3) Alter or falsify records.

(c) The city attorney retains the right to pursue such criminal or civil remedies as prescribed by law for violations of subparagraph (b) of this section.

(d) The city clerk shall administer the records management program for the City of Oceanside. In this regard, the city clerk may, among all other things that may be required for the proper and efficient management of the records of the City of Oceanside:

(1) Develop and circulate such instructions and regulations as may be necessary and proper to implement and maintain the records management program;

(2) Advise and assist city departments in conducting records inventories, records surveys, analyses, studies, training, and investigations as required and, in consultation with the city attorney, oversee the preparation of records retention schedules for approval by city council;

(3) Advise and assist city departments with managing and preserving material to be transferred to the records center for preservation;

(4) Provide and maintain a records center to house those records no longer required in active office areas but requiring extended retention due to legal, operating, fiscal or historical reasons; and to maintain a database management system to track the records;

(5) Advise and assist, as necessary, city departments with implementing, establishing, and managing this records management program within their departments, including information retrieval systems;

(6) Advise and assist city departments with the evaluation process for the determination of the administrative, fiscal, legal, and historic value of records in their possession;

(7) Advise and assist city departments with the implementation of authorized retention schedules and the disposal of records approved for destruction;

(8) Develop procedures for the protection of city records against natural or other disasters;

(9) Provide and maintain an archives center to store and protect those records designated as vital or historic or otherwise determined to require long-term/permanent preservation and conservation.

(e) City departments: City department directors shall establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the records of the department consistent with this ordinance. Department directors shall, among other things:

(1) Develop management controls for the creation, maintenance, and storage of city records used in the normal course of business;

(2) Ensure that retention schedules shall be reviewed/updated and resubmitted to council at five (5) year intervals or shorter as required;

(3) Maintain and secure records identified in the retention schedule as vital records;

(4) Ensure protection of city records in their custody against natural or other disasters;

(5) Segregate and transfer for disposal those records of temporary value in accordance with established retention schedules. Department directors or their designees only may authorize destruction of records in accordance with Government Code Section 34090 and section 2.87 below.

(6) Designate departmental records administrator(s) and alternate(s) to coordinate with the city clerk department for:

(i) The standardization of records series titles within their department;

(ii) Development and maintenance of departmental retention schedules;

(iii) Retrieval and return of files from and to the records center;

(iv) Processing public records requests; and

(v) Transferring inactive records to the records center for storage or disposal in a timely and efficient manner and the identification and removal of non-record material from transfers.

(Ord. No. 04-OR870-1, § 1, 10-6-04)

(a) No city record may be destroyed without a valid retention schedule approved by the city council. Those departments, which have existing resolutions approved by the city council authorizing the continuous disposal of records, may, upon their annual review for any changes needed, continue to use those resolutions until they are superceded by approved retention schedules.

(b) At the time the city council is asked to approve a new retention schedule, a department may seek authorization for the one-time disposal of specified obsolete records by resolution. Obsolete records shall include those records no longer created or needed by the department for administrative, fiscal or other research purposes. Since the disposal of obsolete records is a one-time event, it is not necessary to list them on a department's retention schedule.

(c) After the implementation of a retention schedule, requests for the destruction of original records, without making a copy thereof, shall be reviewed by the city attorney and the department director and disposed of per California Government Code Section 34090. This section does not authorize the destruction of the following originals:

(1) Records affecting the tile to real property or liens thereon;

(2) Records required to be kept by statute;

(3) Original records less than two (2) years old;

(4) The minutes, ordinances, or resolutions of the city.

This section shall not be construed as limiting or qualifying in any manner the authority provided in paragraph (d) hereinafter provided.

(d) Alternatives for preservation and disposal: Notwithstanding the provisions of section (c) herein, the department director having custody of city records, documents, instruments, books, and papers, may cause to be destroyed any or all of such records, documents, instruments, books, and papers only if preserved by either electronic or microfilm formats as set forth below:

(1) Electronic preservation.

(i) The record, paper, or document is electronically scanned, digitized, captured, or otherwise created within information processing systems as a retrievable electronic image by an electronic document imaging system that meets city regulations as may be developed by the city clerk department in conjunction with the information technologies division;

(ii) The device and system used to capture such record, paper or document is one which can accurately and legibly reproduce the original thereof in all details;

(iii) The images are made as accessible for public reference as the original records were; and

(iv) A true copy of the image is transferred to a media capable of long-term storage with an established data migration schedule to new media on a scheduled basis. A copy of each new or migrated media will be kept in an off-site location for security of the media.

(2) Microfilm/micrographic preservation.

(i) The record, paper, or document is photographed, micro photographed, or reproduced on film of a type used for permanent photographic records as approved by the city clerk department;

(ii) The device used to reproduce such record, paper or document on film is one which accurately and legibly reproduces the original thereof in all details;

(iii) The photographs, micro-photographs, or other reproductions on film are made as accessible for public reference as the original records were; and

(iv) A true copy of archival quality of such film reproductions shall be kept in a safe and separate place for security purposes. The city clerk department will use current imaging industry standards to set the criteria for the determination of archival quality film reproductions.

(e) No page of any original record, paper or document shall be destroyed prior to the expiration of its retention period if such record cannot be reproduced on film, or as an electronic printable image, with full legibility. Every such irreproducible record shall be preserved for the prescribed retention period in a manner that will afford easy reference.

(f) The city council may, by approving the records retention schedules, grant to city officers and department heads the authority to destroy duplicate records less than two (2) years old if they are no longer required in accordance with the retention periods established in the general or departmental schedules.

(Ord. No. 04-OR870-1, § 1, 10-6-04)