Pg. 3 of 10 - 10 Steps for Implementing Records Retention

 

PRO-TIPS

  1. Assign record-keeping responsibilities and train division staff members. Links to an external site.
    • This is the person within your group, most often the Data Steward, who is responsible for completing the following tasks per state statute.
  2. Organize your records. Links to an external site.
    • Begin by separating records from non-records. Make it clear which copies are following the retention schedule by separating record copies from other copies.
  3. Inventory your section’s records. Links to an external site.
    • The general and series-specific retention schedules that your agency uses should be reviewed regularly in relation to the records that your agency is maintaining. Conceptualize the functions of your agency and the records that are created as a result of fulfilling those functions. 
  4. Find the general retention schedules and your section’s series-specific retention schedules. Links to an external site.
    • General retention schedules identify and apply to records that are common to a particular function or type of section in order to promote consistent retention practices. General schedules are already approved by the State Records Committee for use and you can access them via the Archives website. A section may have a record series that is not depicted on any general schedule, or that needs to be kept for a longer or shorter period than that which is on the general schedule. In that case, an agency’s records officer can obtain approval for a unique retention schedule for that record series, referred to as a series-specific retention schedule.
  5. Understand the general retention schedules and your division’s series-specific retention schedules. Links to an external site.
  6. Distribute applicable retention schedules to staff; garner and document staff feedback. Links to an external site.
  7. Establish plans for reformatting, data migration, and records storage. Links to an external site.
  8. Update and add to your retention schedules as necessary. Links to an external site.
    • Editing an existing retention schedule or creating a new series-specific retention schedule can be accomplished with the assistance of a records analyst Links to an external site. employed at the State Archives. It is a good idea to contact a records analyst early in the process of updating your schedules to receive guidance and avoid wasted effort. 
  9. Transfer records as necessary Links to an external site..
    • If you choose to send records to off-site storage because they are inactive (used less than once a month) but their retention has not yet been met, you may send them to the State Records Center. The State Records Center, located in Clearfield, Utah, is a secure storage facility for records that are still in the custody of the creating governmental agency. Records can be stored at the State Records Center at no cost to your agency. Although the records are stored off-site at the State Records Center, the creating agency still has the responsibility to maintain them; records officers can recall records as needed and are responsible for providing access to the records. When transferring records of historical value that have met their retention, you will send them to the State Archives, which is located in downtown Salt Lake City, just south of the Rio Grande building. The custody of records stored there is held by the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service.

  10. Destroy records Links to an external site..

    • An essential part of implementing a records retention program is destroying all records, regardless of format, that have a disposition of destroy when their retention has been met. The retentions stated on retention schedules do not only indicate the minimum amount of time that a record should be kept, they also indicate the point at which a record should be disposed of.