(a) Local governments must maintain up-to-date technical documentation for each electronic records system that produces, uses, and stores data files. Documentation must:
  (1) include a narrative description of the system purpose and functionality;
  (2) describe the physical and technical characteristics of the records, including, but not limited to, each field associated with a record; its name, size, starting or relative position; and the form of the data;
  (3) outline steps to ensure the electronic records system remains usable for as long as the system is maintained by the local government, including maintaining any software, hardware, and documentation required to retrieve and read the electronic records;
  (4) describe the required descriptive and technical metadata the electronic records system must maintain for electronic records to have reliability, including metadata necessary to adequately support the usability, authenticity, integrity, and preservation of a record; and
  (5) incorporate instructions for carrying out disposition of records into electronic records systems.
(b) Local governments must ensure electronic records systems using electronic storage media to maintain the record copy, or data used to generate the record copy, allow for:
  (1) all authorized users of the system to retrieve desired records, such as an indexing or text search system;
  (2) security to ensure integrity of the records;
  (3) exchanging records using an established standard format amongst the departments of the local government using different software/operating systems; and
  (4) disposition of the records.
(c) An electronic records system must not create an impediment to access to public records.
(d) Local governments must ensure that records created or maintained in electronic records systems can be:
  (1) identified sufficiently to enable authorized personnel to retrieve, protect, and carry out disposition of the records in the system; and
  (2) associated with related records in other formats.
(e) A local government must prohibit smoking, drinking, and eating in areas containing electronic records systems that maintain the record copy.

Source Note: The provisions of this §7.77 adopted to be effective August 31, 2021, 46 TexReg 5389