Scott Sackett Principal Records - PowerPoint Presentation

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Scott Sackett

Principal Records Consultant, Washington State Archivesscott.sackett@sos.wa.gov 509-413-3296

Essentials of Public Records Retention

Open Government Training – Fall 2017Slide2

What Is

a Public Record?For the purposes of

retention and destruction, two criteria (chapter 40.14 RCW):Made or received in connection with the transaction of public business

Regardless of format

For

public disclosure

, refer to chapter 42.56 RCW.Slide3

Regardless of…

Format (paper, email, tweet…)

Original or copyOwnership of device used (pen/paper, thumb drive, laptop, smartphone…)Where record is stored (desk, vault, basement, garage at home, trunk of car…)Slide4

Chapter 40.14 RCW

All public records shall be and remain the property of the state of Washington.They shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors and shall be preserved, stored, transferred, destroyed or disposed of, and otherwise managed, only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.Slide5

RCW 40.16.020 – Injury to and Misappropriation of Record

Every officer who shall mutilate, destroy, conceal, erase, obliterate, or falsify any record or paper appertaining to the officer's office…is guilty of a class B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for not more than ten years, or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by both.Slide6

It Can Happen!

Former Skamania County Auditor (2012)Pleaded guilty to attempted injury to public record168 hours community service; $62,000 in restitutionFormer Selah City Supervisor (2014)Entered Alford plea on one charge of injury to public record1 day in prison; $65,474 in restitution) Slide7

How Do I

Know What to Keep?Agencies are granted ongoing legal authority to disposition (get rid of records) through legal documents called records retention schedules

Records retention schedules for local or state government are approved by the Local or State Records Committee (RCW 40.14.060 and 40.14.070; chapters 434-624 and 434-630 WAC)Slide8

Which Schedules

Do I Use?Most agencies use two retention schedules:

Local Government – Use the Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule (or CORE

)

AND

Specific Sector Schedule(s)

State Government

– Use the

State General Government Records Retention Schedule

AND

Agency Unique ScheduleSlide9

www.sos.wa.gov/archives/recordsmanagement

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Local? Choose Your Agency

T

ypeSlide11

School District/ESD HomepageSlide12

State Government HomepageSlide13

State?

SGGRRS + Agency UniqueSlide14

What Do the Schedules T

ell You?Types of records by function, activity; common examples

Minimum period that the agency is required to keep the recordEvent that starts the retention clock counting down What to do

once retention requirements

have been

metSlide15

What Do Agencies Do

With NON-ARCHIVAL Records?

Retain for the minimum required retention period; THENDestroy.Slide16

CORE –

Non-Archival Example #1Slide17

CORE –

Non-Archival Example #2Slide18

HOLD IT!

There are times when you must hang on to records even if their retention requirements have been met:Litigation holds (must keep until hold lifted)Open public records requests (must keep related responsive documents until request fulfilled/closed) Slide19

Why Not Keep Everything?

Storage may seem cheap and easy, but:

Records remain subject to public records requests, litigation, discoveryHarder to find what you need (the Google effect)Ongoing data migration costs for electronic recordsSlide20
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What Do Agencies Do

With ARCHIVAL Records?

Archival records must not be destroyed.Agencies must either:Retain the records themselves

indefinitely

;

OR

Arrange with Washington State Archives for

appraisal/transfer

(at no cost) after the records have met their retention.Slide22

CORE –

Archival ExampleSlide23

Two Archival Designations

Permanent Retention

– No appraisal needed. Contact the Archives to make arrangements for transfer.Appraisal Required – Contact the Archives to arrange appraisal for historical value. Records appraised and not selected for transfer may be destroyed by your agency as Non-Archival records.

Retain documentation of archival appraisals!Slide24

Are Agencies R

equired to Transfer?No. They may choose to continue retaining their Archival-designated records indefinitely. However, if/when an agency later decides that it no longer wants to retain them, the Archives is the

only other authorized custodian. (Libraries, historical societies, individuals, etc., are not authorized custodians of Archival public records.) Slide25

Don’t Assume

Records management is a team sport, and not just an IT concern

Procedures

Training

Policies

Compliance Checks

“Cheat sheets”

Disposition DaysSlide26

Primary Record: Paper or Electronic?

Regardless of how it was created:If the

transaction of public business occurs in paper then the paper record needs to be retained.If the transaction of public business occurs

electronically

then the

electronic

record

needs to be retained.Slide27

“Born Digital” Records

Electronic records must be retained in electronic format…for the length of the designated retention period.

Printing and retaining a hard copy is not a substitute for the electronic version.(WAC 434-662-040)Slide28

Yes,

if

.

Agencies wishing to scan

non-archival

paper records and then

destroy

the originals before their required retention has been met (“scanning and tossing”)

must meet or exceed

State Archives requirements as set forth in the document

Requirements for the Destruction of Non-Archival Paper Records After Imaging

.

Can I “Scan and Toss” My Paper?Slide29

My device/account = my records?

It may be your personal device or account, but if it’s being used for agency business, keep in mind that you are accessing (and sometimes creating) public recordsSlide30

From the State Supreme Court Ruling

Nissen v. Pierce County“…Text messages sent and received by a public employee in the employee’s official capacity are public records of the employer,

even if the employee uses a private cell phone.” Slide31

Text Message Resource PageSlide32

Social Media Resource PageSlide33

Records Management Consultations

Searching the schedules for an appropriate record series?Staring down decades’/gigabytes’ worth of paper/

e-records and not sure where to start? Contact us! We can provide advice and consultation by email, by phone, or (if appropriate) in person.

recordsmanagement@sos.wa.gov

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Washington State Archives:

Partners in preservation and access.www.sos.wa.gov/archives

Thank you!