Washington Cities Insurance Authority ESB 5964 Part Three: Records Retention Presented by, Michael F. Connelly Attorney at Law PS Mfc.attorney@gmail.com 509.723.3883 1 RECORDS MANAGEMENT LAWS Statutes: Chapter 40.10 RCW Essential Records Chapter 40.14 RCW Preservation and Destruction of Public Records Chapter 40.16 RCW Penal Provisions RCW 42.20.100 Failure of Duty by Public Officer a Misdemeanor RCW 42.23.020(2) Officer Defined Chapter 42.56 RCW Public Records Act Regulations: Chapter 44 14 WAC Public Records Act Model Rules Chapter 434 620 WAC Powers and Duties of the State Archivist Chapter 434 635 WAC Local Records Disposition Authorization Chapter 434 640 WAC Methods of Records Disposal Chapter 434 660 WAC Standards for the Accuracy, Durability and Permanence of Public Records Chapter 434 662 WAC Preservation of Electronic Public Records Chapter 434 663 WAC Imaging Systems, Standards for Accuracy and Durability 2 1
WAC 434 640 010: Records disposal Generally. When the state or local records committee has authorized the destruction of public records in accord with chapter 40.14 RCW, it shall be the responsibility of the agency having requested or received such authorization to cause such records to be disposed of promptly and effectively, after the approved retention period. WAC 434 640 020: Disposal of confidential records. It is the agency's responsibility to insure that records exempt from disclosure per chapter 42.17 RCW, or which are otherwise considered confidential, are protected from unauthorized access during any disposal process. The primary purpose of such disposal shall be that of reducing the records to an illegible condition. 3 WAC 434 662 030: Retention scheduling and disposition of electronic public records. Electronic records are bound by the same provisions as paper documents as set forth in chapter 40.14 RCW. Electronic records must be retained pursuant to the retention schedules adopted by the records committees. Destruction of, or changes to the retention period of, any public record, regardless of format, requires legal approval from the state or local records committee pursuant to chapters 40.14 RCW, 434 635 WACand other applicable state laws.public records that are designated "archival" by the state archivist must be maintained pursuant to the provisions of this chapter until such time as they are transferred to the state archives. 4 2
WAC 434 662 040: Agency duties and responsibilities. Electronic records must be retained in electronic format and remain usable, searchable, retrievable and authentic for the length of the designated retention period. Printing and retaining a hard copy is not a substitute for the electronic version unless approved by the applicable records committee. An agency is responsible for a security backup of active records. A security backup must be compatible with the current system configuration in use by the agency. 5 WAC 434 662 140: Web site management. All state and local government agencies must retain all web content in accordance with the approved retention schedules. Pursuant to a transmittal agreement, the digital archives will use a software program commonly known as a spider to copy state and local government web sites that are determined to have archival value either annually or more frequently. All state and local government agencies shall use the following best management practices in the maintenance of their web sites: (1) Each page shall contain identifying information as outlined in the transmittal agreement; (2) If an agency web site is determined to have archival value and cannot be copied using a spider software program, the agency must copy and preserve all code for the web site. 6 3
WAC 434 662 150: E mail management. E mails created and received by any agency of the state of Washington in the transaction of public business are public records for the purposes of chapter 40.14 RCW and are subject to all of the laws and regulations governing the retention, disclosure, destruction and archiving of public records. The e mails of all elected government officials and public employees are subject to the records retention periods and disposition promulgated by the records committees, and any and all e mails with archival value must be retained. Agencies may be relieved of the obligation to permanently retain archival e mail by transmitting e mail and all associated metadata to the digital archives pursuant to a transmittal agreement as provided for in WAC 434 662 090. This section does not apply to state legislators or members of the state judiciary. 7 E MAIL RETENTION OPTIONS Individual employee discretion dangerous. Saving all e mails to one server cumbersome. Identifying and using specific folders based upon retention schedules requires training, clarity. Written e mail policy essential. See WAC 434 662 150 (e mail management) 8 4
E MAIL MANAGEMENT Consistency required in: Naming e mail (should tie in with naming files). Avoiding string emails on unrelated subjects. Intermixing personal and public e mails. Limiting use of e mail, especially for confidential or privileged matters. Eliminating meaningless responses, Thanks Great Got it. 9 E MAIL DESTRUCTION Structured destruction: Pursuant to retention schedules. Should be scheduled. Should be memorialized by a writing. Should include supervision and training. 10 5
RECORDS MANAGEMENT RESOURCES Records Retention Schedules for Cities and Towns Secretary of State Website contains all local government records retention schedules. http://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/recordsretentionschedules.aspx Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule (CORE) Covers management of the agency and its assets, finances, human resources, and information resources Attorney General Open Government Ombudsman (Nancy Krier) Developed AG Model Rules Advises agencies re Public Records and OPMA issues http://www.atg.wa.gov/opengovernment.aspx#.u6hvpmdnbrq 11 6