Sec. 441.180. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Agency head" means the appointed or elected official who serves by the state constitution, state statute, or action of the governing body of a state agency as the chief executive and administrative officer of a state agency.

(2) "Archival state record" means a state record of enduring value that will be preserved on a continuing basis by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission or another state agency until the state archivist indicates that based on a reappraisal of the record it no longer merits further retention.

(3) "Commission" means the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

(4) "Confidential state record" means any state record to which public access is or may be restricted or denied under Chapter 552 or other state or federal law.

(5) "Director and librarian" means the chief executive and administrative officer of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

(6) "Historical resources" means any manuscript, map, photograph, artistic depiction, printed material, flag, or other recorded information, or copies of that information, in the possession of this state, an individual, a private institution, another state, or another nation relating to the history and culture of Texas as a province, colony, republic, or state.

(6-a) "Legislative record" means any record created or received by the office of a member of the legislature or the lieutenant governor during the official's term of office.

(7) "Records management" means the application of management techniques to the creation, use, maintenance, retention, preservation, and destruction of state records for the purposes of improving the efficiency of recordkeeping, ensuring access to public information under Chapter 552, and reducing costs. The term includes:

(A) the development of records retention schedules;

(B) the management of filing and information retrieval systems in any media;

(C) the adequate protection of state records that are vital, archival, or confidential according to accepted archival and records management practices;

(D) the economical and space-effective storage of inactive records;

(E) control over the creation and distribution of forms, reports, and correspondence; and

(F) maintenance of public information in a manner to facilitate access by the public under Chapter 552.

(8) "Records management officer" means the person who administers the records management program established in each state agency under Section 441.183.

(9) "State agency" means:

(A) any department, commission, board, office, or other agency in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state government created by the constitution or a statute of this state and includes an eleemosynary institution but does not include the office of a member of the legislature or the lieutenant governor;

(B) any university system and its components and any institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, except a public junior college, not governed by a university system board;

(C) the Texas Municipal Retirement System and the Texas County and District Retirement System; and

(D) any public nonprofit corporation created by the legislature whose responsibilities and authority are not limited to a geographical area less than that of the state.

(10) "State archivist" means the person designated by the director and librarian to administer the state archives program under Section 441.181.

(11) "State record" means any written, photographic, machine-readable, or other recorded information created or received by or on behalf of a state agency or an elected state official that documents activities in the conduct of state business or use of public resources. The term includes any recorded information created or received by a Texas government official in the conduct of official business, including officials from periods in which Texas was a province, colony, republic, or state. The term does not include:

(A) library or museum material made or acquired and maintained solely for reference or exhibition purposes;

(B) an extra copy of recorded information maintained only for reference;

(C) a stock of publications or blank forms; or

(D) a legislative record.

(12) "State records administrator" means the person designated by the director and librarian to administer the state records management program under Section 441.182.

(13) "Vital state record" means any state record necessary to:

(A) the resumption or continuation of state agency operations in an emergency or disaster;

(B) the re-creation of the legal and financial status of the agency; or

(C) the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people of the state.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 873, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 983 (H.B. 3756), Sec. 16, eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 533 (H.B. 1962), Sec. 11, eff. September 1, 2019.