Town of New Castle, NY Chapter 26 Records Management

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of New Castle 2-11-1991 by L.L. No. 2-1991. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 26-1 Program established; Records Management Officer.

There shall be a Records Management Program established under the aegis of the Office of the Town Clerk and headed by a Records Management Officer (RMO). The Town Clerk is designated as the Records Management Officer and will be responsible for administering the noncurrent and archival public records and storage areas for the Town of New Castle in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.

§ 26-2 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

ARCHIVES

Those official records which have been determined by the Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the local government.

RECORDS

Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound records, microforms or any other materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official Town of New Castle business.

RECORDS CENTER

An establishment maintained by the town primarily for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records which must be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained in office equipment or space.

RECORDS DISPOSITION

A. The removal by the Town of New Castle, in accordance with approved records control schedules, of records no longer necessary for the conduct of business by such agency through removal methods which may include:

(1) The disposal of temporary records by destruction or donation; or

(2) The transfer of records to the Record Center/Archives for temporary storage of inactive records and permanent storage of records determined to have historical or other sufficient value warranting continued preservation; and

B. The transfer of records from one town agency to any other town agency.

RECORDS MANAGEMENT

The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training, promotion and other managerial use and records disposition, including records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other storage facilities.

SERVICING

Making information in records available to any town agency for official use or to the public.

§ 26-3 Powers and duties of Records Management Officer.

The Records Management Officer shall have all the necessary powers to carry out the efficient administration, determination of value, use, preservation, storage and disposition of the noncurrent and archival public records kept, filed or received by the offices and departments of the Town of New Castle.

A. The Records Management Officer shall continually survey and examine public records to recommend their classification so as to determine the most suitable methods to be used for the maintaining, storing and servicing of archival material.

B. The Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines for proper records management in any department or agency of the Town of New Castle in accordance with the local, state and federal laws and guidelines.

C. The Records Management Officer shall operate a Records Management Center for the storage, processing and servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for all Town of New Castle departments and agencies.

D. The Records Management Officer shall plan for the establishment of a Town Archives and oversee the following procedures which shall be subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board:

(1) The review and selection of material to be transferred to the Town Archives for preservation.

(2) The survey and examination of public records to determine the most suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining, storing and servicing of archival materials.

(3) Establishment and maintenance of an adequate repository for the proper storage, conservation, processing and servicing of archival records.

(4) Establishment of rules governing public access to and use of records in the archives.

§ 26-4 Records Advisory Board.

A Records Advisory Board shall be established and shall consist of the Supervisor, the Town Historian and the Town Counsel and shall have the following duties:

A. To provide advice to the Records Management Officer on the development of the Records Management Program.

B. To review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis and propose changes and improvements.

C. To review retention periods proposed by the Records Management Officer for records not covered by State Archives' schedules.

D. To provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival value and be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.

§ 26-5 Custody of records.

The Records Management Officer shall maintain physical custody and the official responsibility for all records. Department heads shall retain constructive control and authority over all department records.

§ 26-6 Recovery of records.

The Town Counsel may take steps to recover local government records which have been alienated from proper custody and may, when necessary, institute actions to recover such records.

§ 26-7 Disposal of records.

No record shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a department of the Town of New Castle unless approval has been obtained from the Records Management Officer. No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the Records Management Officer without the express written consent of the department head having authority.