What Will My Records Retention Schedule

Look Like?

Records Listed On The Application May Be Disposed Of Providing:

• the individual retention period is complete, and providing any local, state, and federal audit requirements have been met

• no litigation is pending or anticipated

• the records are correctly listed on a Records Disposal Certificate submitted to and approved by the appropriate Local Records Commission sixty (60) days prior to the intended destruction date

There May Be Other State And/or

Federal Statutes or Regulations

• If so, the records retention schedule approved by the Local Records Commission does not relieve local governments of retention requirements mandated by other state and federal statutes and regulations.

• When such an obligation does exist, then the longer retention period takes precedence.

There may be new laws passed after your records retention schedule is approved by the Local Records Commission which may require a longer retention period than the retention period originally approved by the LRC. For instance, in the last couple of years we have had the new HIPPA law. GASB34 Guidelines, several new identity theft laws were passed in the past year. And there are laws regarding restrictions on access to the records which must also be taken into consideration.

Digitizing or Microfilming Records

• Agencies can digitize or microfilm records and dispose of the originals in accordance with the standards of Local Records Commission Rules and if the film or the digitized record is retained for the prescribed retention period.

• Disposal of records after microfilming or digitizing must be noted on the Records Disposal Certificate.

Are We In Compliance As Long As We Shred Our Records?

• If you have just been throwing your records in the trash or even if you have been shredding them first, you are violating the Local Records Act unless you have made an application to the commission and filed a Local Records Disposal Certificate.

Microfilming or Digitizing Records

• Please list records that you are microfilming or digitizing and wish to dispose of the original records on a separate disposal certificate from those records you wish to dispose of but are not microfilming or digitizing.

The Recommendation

How Does The Commission Determine

How Long A Record Should Be Retained?

Appraisal Process• A sound records disposition

program requires a realistic appraisal of the records in relation to their period of usefulness and value to the agency that created them as well as their usefulness to the public.

By appraising records you:

• Establish reasonable retention periods

• Identify records that can be destroyed after your retention schedule has been approved and a disposal certificate processed

• Identify records with lasting value that should be retained permanently

The values that should be considered in

appraising records are:

Administrative ValueFiscal ValueLegal ValueHistorical or Archival Value

Administrative Value The primary administrative use of

most records is exhausted when the transactions to which they are related have been completed. From that point on they lose their value rapidly.

Administrative ValueHowever, some administrative records contain basic facts about an agency’s origin, policies, functions, organization, and significant administrative decisions.

These types of records should be preserved to provide adequate documentation of an agency’s operations.

An example of a record with a permanent administrative value: agency rules, regulations, policies, and procedures

Legal Value• Records have legal value if they

contain evidence of legally enforceable rights or obligations of the agency such as legal decisions and opinions; fiscal documents representing agreements, such as leases, titles and contracts; and records of action in particular cases, such as claim papers, legal opinions, and legal dockets.

Fiscal Value• (Financial Transactions) After

records have served their basic administrative function, they may still have sufficient fiscal value to justify their retention in storage for a time to protect the agency against court action or to account for the expenditure of funds.

Research, Historical or Archival Value

• Some records have enduring value because they reflect significant historical events or document the history and development of an agency. The importance of preserving such records is obvious.

Special Note• The word "permanent" for archival

and retention purposes means forever. Such records are assessed as having permanent historical value.

• The term should not be confused with "indefinite" nor should such a recommendation be made

• Retention periods of 20 or 40 years are not uncommon for records, yet such retention periods are not referred to as "permanent."

What is a Work and Salary History

• Beginning & Ending Dates Of Employment• Titles Held By The Employee• Salary Changes• Salary At The Time Of Separation Of

Employment• How Much Un-paid Sick Leave Did The

Employee Have At The Time of Termination• Name(s) and other employee I.D.

information