{"id":23524,"date":"2026-07-13T14:52:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/?p=23524"},"modified":"2026-07-13T14:52:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:52:49","slug":"the-records-management-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/2026\/07\/the-records-management-team\/","title":{"rendered":"The Records Management Team: Who Are You?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RMA team works with&nbsp;local governments, state agencies, and universities&nbsp;of all shapes and sizes throughout Texas.&nbsp;While resources and staff are applied differently in each records management program, there is&nbsp;a&nbsp;common&nbsp;idea of the Records Management&nbsp;Team.&nbsp;The Records&nbsp;Management&nbsp;Team&nbsp;is an effort to ensure records management knowledge, procedure, and training&nbsp;reaches&nbsp;all the staff in an organization.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/RMT-Pyramid-2026-07-002-1000x421.png\" alt=\"Hierarchy chart showing Level 1: Records Management Officer, Level 2: Records Liaisons, Level 3: Records Creators\" class=\"wp-image-23529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/RMT-Pyramid-2026-07-002-1000x421.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/RMT-Pyramid-2026-07-002-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/RMT-Pyramid-2026-07-002-768x324.png 768w, https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/RMT-Pyramid-2026-07-002-1536x647.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/RMT-Pyramid-2026-07-002-2048x863.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Records Management Officer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The administration&nbsp;of the records management program begins&nbsp;with the RMO. RMOs are the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/2026\/02\/name-or-position-local-rmo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">only mandated position in the Local Government Records Act<\/a>. For this reason, they sit at the top and lead the Records Management Team. They&nbsp;are in charge of&nbsp;creating procedures that their organization follows&nbsp;regarding&nbsp;records management.&nbsp;Along with&nbsp;program administration, they&nbsp;are also&nbsp;responsible&nbsp;for:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Records Inventory&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The records inventory keeps track of records their organization&nbsp;maintains. It might also&nbsp;identify&nbsp;how records are stored, essential records, and confidential records.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Records Storage&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The RMO is also responsible for the storage process, from assessing risks to managing storage decisions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Retention Schedule&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>RMOs must&nbsp;comply with&nbsp;minimum retention requirements by ensuring their internal retention schedule meets&nbsp;the TSLAC requirements.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Records Disposition&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When a record is eligible for disposition, the RMO makes sure the record and all copies of that record are disposed of properly, while also being mindful of any&nbsp;destruction&nbsp;holds.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bullet points above&nbsp;make the RMO\u2019s&nbsp;role seem&nbsp;straightforward, but being the RMO is a huge undertaking.&nbsp;There is a lot of collaboration, coordination, and communication throughout the organization to ensure the records management program&nbsp;remains&nbsp;efficient. Further, carrying the title of RMO does not mean&nbsp;that&nbsp;is the only job this individual has. For example, a common RMO for municipalities is the City Secretary. The City Secretary has&nbsp;a number of&nbsp;other priorities relating to the local government before they can focus on the duties of being the RMO.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To help balance the workload&nbsp;and&nbsp;make sure proper records management is taking place, the RMO may enlist Records Liaisons.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Records Liaisons (RLs)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">RLs&nbsp;are an extension of the RMO.&nbsp;They work with the RMO&nbsp;to&nbsp;help&nbsp;inform&nbsp;staff about new procedures&nbsp;or&nbsp;updates to records.&nbsp;RLs might even&nbsp;assist&nbsp;in&nbsp;the records management training of staff.&nbsp;For example, if there is an update to&nbsp;the disposition procedure, the best way for the RMO&nbsp;to ensure everyone&nbsp;is aware of&nbsp;the change is to&nbsp;inform the RLs,&nbsp;who will turn around and share the information with the rest of the staff.&nbsp;Or,&nbsp;instead of the RMO traveling to every newly hired employee, the RL in the same department can provide onboarding&nbsp;records&nbsp;training.&nbsp;It is up to the RMO to figure out how much&nbsp;shared&nbsp;responsibility the RLs&nbsp;will have.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So,&nbsp;how do RLs come to be?&nbsp;RLs are appointed by the RMO. There can be multiple RLs&nbsp;throughout the organization, and anyone&nbsp;can be selected to be&nbsp;a&nbsp;RL. However, there is a strategy&nbsp;in appointing RLs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A&nbsp;good&nbsp;RL&nbsp;candidate&nbsp;exhibits&nbsp;knowledge of records management and its applications.&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They&nbsp;understand records management laws, rules, and definitions. Not only awareness of records management, but how it applies to their organization through policy and procedures.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The RL&nbsp;candidate&nbsp;will have a confident grasp of the various records&nbsp;in their office, and who to raise records management concerns&nbsp;with.&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If they&nbsp;encounter&nbsp;a records management issue within their office, they know to reach out to the RMO.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Does this sound like someone you know? To us, a typical RL candidate is the&nbsp;department&nbsp;head&nbsp;or&nbsp;similar supervisor roles. The same&nbsp;folks&nbsp;that&nbsp;lead&nbsp;a department can be useful to the RMO.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Records Creators (RCs)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the bottom of the hierarchy, we have Records&nbsp;Creators&nbsp;(RCs). RCs are the everyday employees&nbsp;who&nbsp;are responsible for&nbsp;the records they create or receive that keep the organization&nbsp;running.&nbsp;The&nbsp;line of communication starts with them as they report to the RL&nbsp;with any&nbsp;records&nbsp;challenges.&nbsp;Identifying&nbsp;RCs is easier than you might think because many records come with natural custodians.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s&nbsp;say you work in the Communications Office, but you receive a record that deals with timesheets.&nbsp;Well,&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;not your&nbsp;record&nbsp;so you&nbsp;forward&nbsp;it to the Payroll Manager.&nbsp;Same&nbsp;goes for job applications (Human Resources), invoices (Accounting), and so on. The main idea of RCs is that there is a person\/department responsible for certain types of records within your organization. Understanding who&nbsp;is responsible for&nbsp;which records can help clear up questions like:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Who has the authorized record copy?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Which copy is the authorized record copy?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who has clearance to access this record?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who&nbsp;is responsible for&nbsp;the life cycle of the record?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then there are records that are based on the individual, which leads to the&nbsp;final point&nbsp;of RCs:&nbsp;Ultimately, we&nbsp;are all RCs!&nbsp;For example, there is not a person or department that you can forward&nbsp;your email&nbsp;to&nbsp;(General Correspondence) for them to manage. You&nbsp;are responsible for&nbsp;maintaining&nbsp;those records.&nbsp;For this reason, you are included&nbsp;and have reason to&nbsp;buy-in&nbsp;to the success of&nbsp;the records management program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summarize<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So,&nbsp;who are you&nbsp;in this setup? As an RMO,&nbsp;maybe you&nbsp;are realizing that enlisting some RLs can be beneficial in spreading&nbsp;the news about&nbsp;that new procedure.&nbsp;If&nbsp;you\u2019re&nbsp;not the&nbsp;RMO&nbsp;but you have potential solutions to records management issues within your office, make yourself available as an RL to the RMO.&nbsp;&nbsp;Not finding yourself as the RMO or RL? You are still just as important as&nbsp;a&nbsp;RC. As a frontline for records, the RC begins the proper management of a record&nbsp;at the beginning of its life cycle.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The RMA team works with&nbsp;local governments, state agencies, and universities&nbsp;of all shapes and sizes throughout Texas.&nbsp;While resources and staff are applied differently in each records management program, there is&nbsp;a&nbsp;common&nbsp;idea of the Records Management&nbsp;Team.&nbsp;The Records&nbsp;Management&nbsp;Team&nbsp;is an effort to ensure records management knowledge, procedure, and training&nbsp;reaches&nbsp;all the staff in an organization.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Records Management Officer The administration&nbsp;of the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":19496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6,129,7],"class_list":["post-23524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faqs","tag-local","tag-records-management","tag-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23524"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23533,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524\/revisions\/23533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/slrm\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}