Oglala Sioux Tribe: Law and Order Code
Last amended: 1996; New Ordinances Received: 2002.
CHAPTER 20
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
Section 1. Definitions for Records Management Program:
A. Active Records: These records in current use which must be retained in office because frequent reference is necessary in the conduct of day to day operations.
B. Inactive Records: Those records which are seldom referred to, but which must be retained, temporarily or permanently because of legal, fiscal, administrative, or archival value.
C. Tribal Records: All records, whether of public or private origin, housed and/or administered by the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
D. Non-records: All materials not usually included within the definition of records , such an unofficial copies of documents that are kept only for convenience or reference, stocks of publications and processed documents, and library or museum material intended solely for reference or exhibition.
E. Records: All books, papers, maps, photographs, machine-readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, generated or received by a department of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, under ordinance or in connection with the transaction of public business, and preserved for any period of time by that department as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of this tribal government, or because of the informational value of data in them.
F. Records Management Program: A formulated plan to establish a tribal wide system that achieves integrated control of all department subsystems so that an orderly and efficient flow of paperwork is provided from creation to ultimate disposition.
G. Records Series: Records accumulated over a period of time and arranged in an organized file or set of files which can be described, handled, and disposed of as a unit. A records series may consist of records of a single type or format, or of records kept. (Eg. Accounts payable, Ordinances, or Tribal Council Minutes) .
Section 2. The Office of Tribal Secretary is authorized to establish and administer the Records Management Program for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, pursuant to legal, fiscal, administrative, and archival requirements. To this end, the Secretary will implement, but not be limited to, a program to encompass such areas of records management as are required to preserve and keep in order all books, papers, documents, records, and files of the Tribal Council and of the executive departments. The Office of Tribal Secretary shall have responsibility for, but not be limited to, the following areas of records management:
A. Development and circulation of such rules, regulations and policies as may be necessary and proper to implement and maintain the Oglala Sioux Tribe Records Management Program;
B. Development and implementation of a Confidentiality Policy for all inactive records designated confidential and in the physical custody of the Tribal Secretary's Office, providing such policy does not conflict with any federal statue;
C. Provision and maintenance of Oglala Lakota College to store and preserve inactive records prior to disposition;
D. Development of a retention and disposition schedule for all tribal records;
E. Consultation and assistance to tribal departments in all areas of records management, including active records maintenance, transfer, and disposition;
F. Provision of Oglala Lakota College for a micrographic operation;
G. Provision of Oglala Lakota College for the permanent preservation of historical records; and
H. Development and institution of a Vital Records Program to ensure the safety of essential records in event of a disaster.
Section 3. All records created or received by a department shall remain the property of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The department is the legal custodian of its records; except that the department shall relinquish legal custody of those records given to Oglala Lakota College. The Oglala Lakota College Archives is the physical custodian of all Tribal records transferred to Oglala Lakota College.
Section 4. It shall be the duty of each officer and employee of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to protect, preserve, store, and/or transfer tribal records in accordance with tribal rules promulgated and approved by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Secretary.
Section 5. All tribal records shall be open to the public except as otherwise provided by ordinance, regulation, or judicial decision, or in the case of records containing data on individuals, as determined by classification by the Tribal Secretary. Tribal departments and agencies and Oglala Lakota College shall provide for access during reasonable business hours and according to reasonable business practices. Tribal departments and agencies and Oglala Lakota College shall respond promptly to requests for access .
Section 6. Oglala Lakota College Archives is authorized to utilize a micrographic operation which accurately and permanently copies, reproduces, or originates on microform media any tribal record of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Section 7. Definitions of the Micrographic Program
A. Index: A list describing the items of a collection and where they may be found; a ,catalog.
B. Microfilm: A film containing photographic records or images considerably reduced in size from the original material filmed.
C. Microform: A generic name for any medium containing micro-images, i.e. reduced images.
D. Microform Record: Any record preserved in one of the various formats of microfilm.
E. Micrographic: The art of reducing any form of information to a microform medium.
Section 8. The Oglala Lakota College micrographic operation under the administration of the Office of Tribal Secretary may be applied to any tribal record of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, including, but not limited to, ordinances, resolutions, contracts, deeds, conveyances, minutes, notices, correspondence, memoranda, any written communication, or any record of any department of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, including police records. The first generation microform medium shall meet the requirements of the United States of America Standards Institute for archival quality, density, resolution, and definition, except that microform media which is intended only for short term use, as determined by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council. The Office of Tribal Secretary shall index said microfilm records and the Tribal Secretary shall check and certify that each microform record is a true and correct duplication of the original tribal record .
Section 9. The public shall have free access to information in microform records to which the public is entitled under tribal ordinance.
Section 10. Tribal records which are microfilmed in compliance with this ordinance, may be destroyed as directed by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council with the advise and consent of the Tribal Attorney, unless otherwise required by federal law. Any original tribal record, the subject matter of which is in litigation, may not be destroyed until such litigation is final. Original tribal records which are not microfilmed in compliance with this ordinance or which are determined worthless by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council may be destroyed as directed by the council, provided that notice of proposed destruction or disposition of those original records shall first be given to the Oglala Lakota College Archivist and if such records are, in her/his opinion, needed for the Oglala Lakota College Archives, the records shall be transferred thereto.
Section 11. Tribal records other than original records may be disposed of upon approval of the Tribal Secretary and the legal department custodian. A notice of proposed destruction or disposition of all tribal records, including records series titles, descriptions, inclusive dates, and volumes, shall first be given to the Records Administrator for permanent keeping.
Section 12. The terms and provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed to be coverable and that if the validity of any section, sub-section, clause or phrase of this ordinance should be declared to be invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of any other section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance.
Section 13. The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council does hereby order a stay of enforcement and implementation of this Records Management Chapter until such time as the Law and Order committee and Tribal Attorneys review and amend Ordinance 84-O1 and recommend such ordinance to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council.
Hist: Ordinance 84-01, stay ordered Ordinance 85-07.
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