MASSACHUSETTS
<br>LEGISLATIVE SERVICE
<br>Acts of the General Court
<br>1988 Regular Session
<br>
<br>CHAPTER 68
<br>BOSTON, CITY OF--ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADVISORY COMMISSION
<br>
<br>AN ACT establishing an archives and records advisory commission and an 
<br>archives and records management division in the City of Boston.
<br>
<br>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court
<br>assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
<br>
<br>SECTION 1.
<br>There shall be in the city of Boston an
<br>archives and records advisory commission
<br>hereinafter called the commission.
<br>
<br>The commission shall consist of
<br>the city clerk who shall serve as its chairman,
<br>the city registrar,
<br>the corporation counsel,
<br>the director of the public library,
<br>the director of the office of arts and humanities, 
<br>and the director of administrative services,
<br>ex-officio,
<br>or their respective designees,
<br>and three persons to be appointed by the mayor.
<br>
<br>The appointed members of the commission shall serve for a term
<br>expiring on the first Monday of the January following the next
<br>biennial municipal election at which a mayor is elected.
<br>
<br>In making such appointments, the mayor shall give preference to those
<br>persons associated with or representative of public or private
<br>institutions concerned with the care, custody or use of archival
<br>materials.
<br>
<br>All members of the commission shall serve without compensation but
<br>shall be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred
<br>in the performance of their duties.
<br>
<br>They shall be deemed special municipal employees for the purposes of
<br>chapter two hundred and sixty-eight A of the General Laws.
<br>
<br>SECTION 2.
<br>There shall be within the office of the city clerk the 
<br>archives and records management division.
<br>
<br>Said division shall establish and maintain a program for the
<br>administration and preservation of the records of the city of Boston
<br>under the provisions of chapter sixty-six of the General Laws.
<br>
<br>Said division's program shall be
<br>subject to the approval of the commission.
<br>
<br>Said division shall be supervised by a professional archivist who shall 
<br>be appointed by the city clerk, subject to the approval of the 
<br>commission.
<br>
<br>The archivist shall perform the duties required by law, and with 
<br>the assistance of the city clerk, city registrar, departmental 
<br>custodians, and the commission, shall execute the responsibilities of chief 
<br>records officer of the inactive records of the city.
<br>
<br>The city clerk may employ within said division, professional and 
<br>technical experts and such other employees as may be required in the 
<br>performance of its duties subject to the qualifications set by the commission.
<br>
<br>SECTION 3.
<br>The commission shall approve, disapprove or modify all plans 
<br>and schedules prepared by the archivist relative to the retention, 
<br>disposition and preservation of records.
<br>
<br>The commission shall advise in the administration of said division and 
<br>render annually to the mayor and city council a report regarding the 
<br>development and status of municipal archives and records management.
<br>
<br>The commission shall encourage departmental cooperation with municipal 
<br>records regulations as provided for by this statute and shall be the 
<br>final arbiter regarding any matters that may arise between departments 
<br>and said division.
<br>
<br>SECTION 4.
<br>Said division shall develop
<br>procedures,
<br>standards and 
<br>techniques and
<br>promulgate policies in relation to records and archives management;
<br>prepare inventories,
<br>indexes,
<br>guides,
<br>and other resource aids to facilitate the use of the public records
<br>of the city in its custody; 
<br>create and implement retention and disposition schedules
<br>in compliance with regulations issued under
<br>section one of chapter sixty-six of the General Laws;
<br>establish procedures for the lawful transfer and disposition 
<br>of all noncurrent records,
<br>including those of semi-active status which must be retained
<br>for varying periods of time, but which are not needed 
<br>frequently for the transaction of current business, and provide a 
<br>central records center for
<br>accepting,
<br>storing,
<br>retrieving,
<br>servicing and 
<br>protecting such records;
<br>appraise and preserve all inactive municipal records
<br>for their historical, administrative, legal, fiscal, cultural or 
<br>other important value;
<br>receive, arrange and describe all inactive records 
<br>which come into the division's possession;
<br>establish and operate an 
<br>archives repository in order to store, secure, process and conserve said 
<br>records and to make them available for governmental reference
<br>and public use;
<br>and receive inactive archival records, being those records which 
<br>have an enduring historical or administrative value from
<br>departments, 
<br>agencies,
<br>offices,
<br>commissions,
<br>boards and
<br>public corporations, whether extant or defunct,
<br>as well as the records of all officials and agents of the city of Boston
<br>when those records are no longer necessary for conducting current business.
<br>
<br>SECTION 5.
<br>All public records, as defined in
<br>section seven of chapter four and section three of chapter sixty-six
<br>of the General Laws shall be 
<br>the property of the city and unless otherwise provided for by law, 
<br>shall be kept in the custody of the sole officer in charge of a department 
<br>or office.
<br>
<br>All records shall be delivered by outgoing officials and 
<br>employees to their successors.
<br>
<br>Inactive records in the custody of departments may be designated as 
<br>archival records by the archivist subject to the approval of the city 
<br>clerk and the commission.
<br>
<br>Such records shall, after identification and appraisal by the
<br>archivist to determine their value, be transferred to the city's
<br>archival repository where they shall be processed, conserved and made
<br>available for reference.
<br>
<br>SECTION 6.
<br>The officer in charge of any city department, agency, board, 
<br>office, commission or public corporation shall make and preserve public 
<br>records containing proper documentation of its organization, functions, 
<br>policies, and procedures; establish and maintain effective controls 
<br>over the creation, maintenance and use of records and guard against the 
<br>loss or the unauthorized or unlawful removal of city records;
<br>apply the provisions of approved records retention schedules to execute the 
<br>orderly disposition of records including transfer to the city's central 
<br>records center or archives repository of noncurrent or inactive records; 
<br>appoint a clerk as provided in section six of chapter sixty-six of the 
<br>General Laws who shall act as a liaison between the agency and said 
<br>division on all matters relating to the department's records and 
<br>record-keeping practices.
<br>
<br>SECTION 7.
<br>No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by 
<br>any department, agency, office, commission, board or public corporation 
<br>until they have been reviewed by the archivist and written approval has 
<br>been obtained from the city clerk and the corporation counsel, subject 
<br>to the approval of the supervisor of public records.
<br>
<br>The city clerk and the corporation counsel shall base their
<br>determinations on the potential administrative, fiscal, legal,
<br>research or historical values of the record and the applicable laws of
<br>the commonwealth, ordinances of the city, and record retention
<br>schedules promulgated by said division.
<br>
<br>Requests to dispose of records shall be accompanied by a description of 
<br>the records by series, inclusive dates, quantities and with reference 
<br>to approved state and city retention schedules and shall include 
<br>notification of time, place and method of disposal.
<br>
<br>Upon disposal of the records, the department, agency, office, 
<br>commission, board or public corporation which requested the disposal shall 
<br>submit to the archivist a certificate of disposal listing the records and 
<br>certifying to their disposal.
<br>
<br>Said division shall insure the proper destruction of all disposable
<br>records, in accordance with the preceding provisions, within ninety
<br>days of the date of eligibility.
<br>
<br>Records designated as archival shall be retained for historical or 
<br>research purposes and shall be transferred to the municipal archives for 
<br>permanent custody.
<br>
<br>SECTION 8.
<br>Said division shall seek the return of public records of the 
<br>city which have been alienated from its possession or provide for the 
<br>reproduction of alienated records, or provide information concerning the 
<br>location of these records, if they have been maintained in a safe and 
<br>usable manner and are available for public use.
<br>
<br>Upon the request of the city clerk and the commission,
<br>the corporation counsel may take action to recover
<br>any municipal records,
<br>artifacts or 
<br>documents deemed to have historical significance which were previously 
<br>sold,
<br>transferred,
<br>loaned or otherwise removed from the city without proper authorization.
<br>
<br>Approved June 15, 1988.