Records Retention and Disposition Schedule - 12-15-2015

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PUBLIC RECORDS WITH SHORT-TERM VALUE GUIDELINES FOR THEIR RETENTIONAND DISPOSITION According to North Carolina General Statutes§121 and§132,every document,paper,letter,map,book,photograph, film,sound recording,magnetic or other tape,electronic data processing record,artifact,or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristic,made or received in connection with the transaction of public business by any state,county,municipal agency,or other political subdivision of government is considered a public record and may not be disposed of erased,or destroyed without specific guidance from the Department of Cultural Resources. The Department of Cultural Resources recognizes that many records exist that may have very short-term value to the creating agency. These guidelines,along with any approved program records retention and disposition schedule,are intended to authorize the expeditious disposal of records possessing only brief administrative,fiscal,legal,research,or reference value,in order to enhance the efficient management of public records. Examples of those records include: • facsimile cover sheets containing only transmittal("to"and"from")information,or information that does not add significance to the transmitted material; • routing slips or other records that transmit attachments; • reservations and confirmations; • personal messages (including electronic mail)not related to official business; • preliminary or rough drafts containing no significant information that is not also contained in the final drafts of the records; • documents downloaded from the World Wide Web or by file transfer protocol not used in the transaction of business; • records that do not contain information necessary to conduct official business,meet statutory obligations,carry out administrative functions,or meet organizational objectives. The records described above may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of when their reference value ends. These guidelines are not intended to serve as authorization to destroy or otherwise dispose of unscheduled records. They are intended to complement the use of an approved records retention and disposition schedule for the creating government or agency,not replace or supersede it. Should a creating government or governmental agency lack an approved records retention and disposition schedule,it may not destroy or otherwise dispose of any records in its custody,whether in electronic,paper,or other format(including electronic mail) until it receives approval of its Request and Approval of Unscheduled Records Disposal(located at the end of the this schedule). Such offices should contact the Government Records Branch of the Division of Historical Resources for assistance in creating a schedule. While records of short-term value may be discarded as described above,all public employees should be familiar with specific records retention and disposition schedules and applicable guidelines for their office and the Public Records law (G.S. §132). When in doubt about whether a record has short-term value,or whether it has special significance or importance,retain the record in question. x