(a) Goals of the manual.
(1) The Capitol Collections Management Manual has been developed
by the curator of the Capitol to further define the Texas Capitol collections
policy, detailing the specific procedures that are to be followed to fully
carry out the guidelines of the collections policy.
(2) The overall goal of the policy and the management
manual is to collect, preserve, protect, interpret, and maintain information
on original or period objects of historical significance to the Capitol or
the State of Texas or appropriate to the early period of the Capitol's history
(circa 1880-1920).
(b) Responsibility for collections and Collections Review Committee.
(1) The State Preservation Board was established as an agency
in 1983 to preserve, maintain, and restore the State Capitol, its contents,
and grounds (Texas Government Code, Chapter 443).
(2) In order to assist the State Preservation Board and
the office of the State Preservation Board in carrying out the purpose of
the collections policy, a collections review committee shall be formed.
(3) The Collections Review Committee shall be composed
of five members appointed by the office of the State Preservation Board and
approved by the State Preservation Board. The committee members shall be residents
of the State of Texas and recognized authorities or scholars in one or more
of the following fields: Texas material culture; American decorative arts
(19th century emphasis); Texas paintings (historical); Texas history; or a
related field. The term of the appointments shall be three years. To allow
for staggered terms, two of the first appointments will be for the full three-year
term, to be determined by random selection.
(4) The Collections Review Committee's responsibilities
primarily focus on the advisory review of staff recommendations concerning
acquisitions, deaccessions, and loans. The committee may conduct its advisory
review process via correspondence, but shall meet as a group at least once
a year prior to each year's first meeting of the State Preservation Board,
and shall report to the board, along with the curator of the Capitol, on the
status of the collections based on the prior year's activities. The curator
of the Capitol and other related staff shall attend each committee meeting
and shall assist with the formulation of the meeting's agenda.
(c) Methods of acquisition.
(1) The office of the State Preservation Board shall acquire
the collections through purchase, gift, bequest, or any other transaction
consistent with applicable state or federal requirements by which title to
objects is transferred to the board. The office of the State Preservation
Board shall acquire objects unencumbered by conditions imposed by the owner,
donor, consignee, of by the nature of the material itself, unless otherwise
approved by the board. The curator of the Capitol will report to the board
on new acquisitions and request the board's formal approval of the acquisitions
at each meeting of the board.
(2) Prior to purchase, the office of the State Preservation
Board will attempt to acquire the object or comparable material through gift,
bequest, or transfer. Only items which the office of the State Preservation
Board feels can be given proper care for an indefinite period of time will
be acquired. Items known to have questionable provenance or title or obtained
through illicit trade shall not be acquired. Only when the office of the State
Preservation Board has determined to the best of its ability that material
has been collected, exported, or imported in compliance with the laws and
regulations of the country of origin, of the federal government of the United
States, and of individual states within the United States, shall material
be acquired by the board. The office of the State Preservation Board will
conduct its collecting activities with a reasonable certainty that its approach
is consistent with the spirit and intent of these laws and programs.
(3) If it determined that an object offered for acquisition
is stolen property or has entered the United States illegally, the office
of the State Preservation Board will report all pertinent facts, in writing,
to the Collections Review Committee and the board.
(d) Donation, bequests, purchases, and other transactions.
(1) All donations shall be referred by the office of the State
Preservation Board to the Collections Review Committee for advisory review
and comment. Taking into consideration the comments of the Collections Review
Committee, if a donation is unencumbered, and meets the purposes of the board,
the office of the State Preservation Board may accept the material for receipt.
If the item is encumbered in any manner, the donation shall be submitted for
prior approval to the board. All encumbrances shall be stated clearly in an
instrument of conveyance, shall be made part of the State Preservation Board
permanent record, and shall be observed by the executive director and the
curator of the Capitol of the State Preservation Board. Whenever possible
donations should be accompanied by funds which will be restricted to an endowment
for conservation and collection. Applicable Internal Revenue Service rules
related to donations shall be adhered to by all relevant parties.
(2) In the absence of indication to the contrary, the
State Preservation Board, the executive director, the curator of the Capitol,
and the Collections Review Committee shall assume that all donors are sole
owners and shall have no responsibility for confirming ownership. In addition,
if the donor possesses copyright to material, he shall be encouraged to relinquish
and transfer to the board all right, title, and interest in copyright and
transfer the exclusive rights of reproduction, adaptation, and distribution
to the board. If this is not agreed upon, the material shall be treated as
an encumbered donation.
(3) The board reserved the right to accept or refuse any
bequest of collection material or any part thereof made to it. In reviewing
a bequest, the board shall follow the same procedures as for donations.
(4) All items considered for purchase shall be referred
by the curator of the Capitol to the Collections Review Committee for advisory
review and comment. A written appraisal from a licensed appraiser shall be
obtained by the curator prior to the purchase of items over $10,000 and otherwise
deemed advisable. Taking into consideration the comments of the committee
and the recommendations of the curator of the Capitol, the office of the State
Preservation Board may purchase items under $10,000 given the availability
of necessary funds. Items over $10,000 shall require the approval of the board
prior to purchase.
(5) The board may also acquire items through interagency
transfer as provided by the Texas Government Code, §443.017 and other
applicable state law.
(6) Any other transaction by which title to material is
transferred to the board shall be approved by the board upon the recommendation
of the executive director of the State Preservation Board, the curator of
the Capitol and the advisory review of the Collections Review Committee.
(7) Board members, staff of the State Preservation Board,
or Collections Review Committee members shall not give appraisals, either
of donations, of privately owned materials, or otherwise; however, upon request
of the curator of the Capitol may suggest possible appraisers to the potential
donor. In most cases, at least three appraisers should be suggested.
(8) State law provides that in most cases all records
of a governmental body are open to the public following procedures established
under the Open Records Act. One exception to that rule is information pertaining
to appraisals or the purchase price of personal property for public purposes
prior to the formal award of the contract.
(e) Deaccessioning.
(1) The board may deaccession material in order to refine its
collections and effect exchanges or purchases of material more in keeping
with its purposes. All material considered for deaccessioning by the curator
of the Capitol must be referred to the Collections Review Committee for advisory
review, and then approved by the executive director of the State Preservation
Board and the board prior to deaccession. No donated object shall be deaccessioned
for any reason for two years and one day after the date of its acquisition.
(2) The procedures for deaccessioning material from the
Capitol collections shall be consistent with those procedures established
by Article 601b, Vernon's Civil Statutes. Items shall not be returned to donors.
However, when applicable, the donor shall not be precluded from purchasing
material if it is offered at public sale. The curator of the Capitol shall
make a reasonable attempt to notify the donors of the material 30 days prior
to any such sale. All monies received from the deaccessioning of material
shall be placed in a fund restricted for acquisitions or direct care of the
collections.
(3) Prior to deaccessioning, the curator of the Capitol
shall determine current fair market value of the material. Two independent
appraisals shall be obtained for items valued potentially over $10,000.
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