S Records Retention and Dispositon Schedule

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD of coMMlssIONERs ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 5, 200? Action Agenda Item No. ~ ~ ~, SUBJECT: Count Mana ement Schedule: Records Retention and Dis osition Schedule DEPARTMENT: County Clerk PUBLIC HEARING: ~Y1N~ Nv Personnel . ATTACHMENT(S): (Under Separate Cover) County Management Schedule Records Retention and Disposition Schedule INFORMATION CaNTACT: Donna Baker, County Clerk ~9~ 9} 245-2 30 Annette Moore, Policy and Compliance Officer ~9 9} 245-23~ ?' PURPOSE: To approve the County Management Records Retention and Disposition Schedule. BACKGROUND: North Carolina General Statutes §§~ 21-5 and ~ 323 provide that the Gounty may only destroy or dispose of public record with "the consent of the Department of Cultural Resources, except as provided in G.S.130A-99." This means that to comply with the Statute, the County must obtain the Department of Cultural Resource's permission to destroy any record, regardless of its significance. Whoever unlawfully disposes or destroys a public record, not in accordance with this statute, is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and subject to a fine. The. process indicated by the Statute, where the custodian of the record certifies that the records have "no further use of value for official and administrative purposes" and the ~} Department of Cultural Resources certifies that the "records appear to have no further use or value, for research or reference", can be costly and time consuming. However, the statute authorizes the North Carolina Historical Commission to make orders, rules, and regulations to carry out the provisions of the Statute. The custodian of the records is relieved of liability when the County destroys or disposes the public records in accordance with these. orders, rules and regulations. In April 2005, the Department of Cultural Resources released the "County Management . Schedule: Records Retention and Disposition Schedule." The .schedule is the Department of Cultural Resources' too[ to assist county governments in managing the records in their offices. The schedule is an inventory of many of the records found in county government offices. It assesses their research and resource value and indicates when, and if, they will be destroyed if at all. The schedule also serves as an agreement between the County and the Department of Cultural Resources as to what the disposition schedule and retention periods are that govern the County for the records listed in accordance with G.S. ~ 2 -5 and G.S. § 32-8.