In our varied roles within State Government, the records we create, receive, and manage come in a variety of formats including but not limited to: Social Media Posts, videos, audio recordings, databases, as well as traditional physical and electronic document formats (msg, pdf, docx, etc.). State and local agencies have an obligation to establish and maintain an active, continuing program for efficient management of records and information.

Note: There are many different types of entities in California that create State records—Agencies, Boards, Bureaus, Departments, etc. For simplification, this Handbook will use “agency” to encompass all groups.

The California Records and Information Management (CalRIM) Program

The California Secretary of State has assigned the development and implementation of the state’s Records Management Program to the California Records and Information Management (CalRIM) program.1

CalRIM Program Responsibilties:

  • Providing guidance and education on records management best practices.
  • Promoting easy to follow retention schedules.
  • Empowering agencies to manage their records properly from creation through disposition in compliance with the State Records Management Act.

State agencies are required to comply with the rules, regulations, standards, and procedures related to records management.2CalRIM operates based on several Government Codes which outline how government records should be dealt with: Each state agency is encouraged to develop a records management program tailored to the work the state agency performs and which suits the agency’s needs. CalRIM will assist by providing training, holding informational meetings or site visits, and by reviewing and approving Records Retention Schedules. There is a CalRIM analyst assigned to every state agency to serve as the main point of contact for any agency questions related to records management. Email CalRIM@sos.ca.gov for assistance.

The Local Government (LoCal) Program

The Local Government Records Program (LoCal) establishes guidelines for local government records retention and provides archival support and information to local government agencies [per Government Code section 12236(a)]. The LoCal team of analysts conduct research, gather information, and write reports on the best practices for records management, archives, and program development.

LoCal Program Responsibilities:

  1. Function as the liaison for the State Archives with appropriate professional organizations.
  2. Monitoring and reviewing changes in state laws and administrative regulations that pertain to local government records retention.
  3. Monitor practices and procedures in records administration that have bearing on local government records retention and management.
  4. Make supporting information about state laws and administrative regulations that pertain to local government records retention available to local government agencies.
  5. Maintain communication with individual local government agencies.
  6. Consult and provide information and advice to local government agencies on archival practices, history, and heritage.

For questions regarding local government matters, email LoCal@sos.ca.gov

What is Records Management?

Records Management is the system an office uses to create, maintain, store, access and preserve or destroy its records. When an agency creates a record, a plan must exist for where the record will be stored, and how long it should be kept in support of an agency business, and whether it needs to be permanently preserved for historical reasons, or if it will eventually be destroyed.

What is a Record?

The California Public Records Act (PRA), in Government Code 7920.530, defines a record as “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.”3 “Writing” is not meant to be limiting, but includes “any handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored.”4

In 1978, the Information Practices Act (IPA) (California Civil Code, Section 1798 et seq.) became effective to protect personal privacy rights for individuals. The IPA is modeled after the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 and supersedes portions of the PRA. It does not apply to local public agencies except under voluntary contractual agreements.

A record is any document received, created, or used by an agency that documents the work of the agency. Its value as a record is determined by the content and function it supports, not by its format. Examples of records include, but are not limited to:

  • Correspondence
  • Litigation files
  • Meeting minutes
  • Press releases shared on social media
  • Database
  • Survey maps
  • Event photographs
  • Invoices paid
  • Employee personnel files
  • Training videos

Certain records such as correspondence, meeting minutes, invoices, and employee personnel files are created by almost all agencies. Agency also has specialized records, unique to their duties and mission. For example, the records from the Department of Fish and Wildlife that document their unique environmental functions will be vastly different than the functional records created by the Department of Aging.

Records can be in any format: physical documents, electronic documents, microfiche, video recordings, databases, photos, audio recordings, ephemera, etc. The format of a record does not determine its value or retention. However, there are unique records management considerations for different formats of records that agencies should consider as part of their records management strategy.

Oral Histories and Ephemera

Sometimes, agencies retain records that are not always accounted for on retention schedules, including records such as ephemera (agency buttons, pins, posters), award plaques, photo albums, metal signs, and oral histories of those who have had significant roles in California state government (often transcribed into a written format via interview). These kinds of records can also be of interest to the State Archives for permanent preservation in our collection—please reach out to our archivist team, SRAP@sos.ca.gov, if your agency is interested in transferring these to the Archives.

What Is NOT A Record -- Copies, Duplicates, and Publications

While there are many different types of records, there are also many documents created by government agencies that do not document the work of the agency and are not considered records to be included on the agency’s records retention schedule. Copies, duplicates, or external publications that are kept for purposes of personal reference or convenience may not be considered records.

Drafts show a different version of the final record. Agencies are allowed to make the determination themselves as to whether the draft is substantively different enough to merit keeping as part of the documentation of the development process. If it includes substantive changes like a change in policy or documents upper management comments requesting changes, then those drafts merit retention as a record. If it is just formatting and minor edits, those drafts are most often considered transitory, non-records.

Drafts

Records must be managed, meaning that they have been documented on the applicable retention schedule and the appropriate retention period is being followed consistently. If drafts are kept as separate files (not just accepting track changes on a single document and then moving on), those files need to be managed, too.

Records are used by agency staff to do their jobs and document their work. Let’s say that a document has been submitted for approval to an agency’s Division Chief, and they have made various edits to the drafted document. These edits are documenting a decision being made that is reflective of the way the agency conducts business, and notes left by the Chief can provide legal or administrative value to that draft. The Chief’s notes or edits can also provide justification and documentation of why a change was made or why a new direction was taken, and provide additional insight into why. In this example, this would be an example of a necessary draft that should be retained.

Non-substantive drafts that do not have legal, administrative, or fiscal value to the agency can be retained until superseded or until the report is finalized; then, their value is up and they can then be destroyed. Whatever the agency decides, the retention schedule needs to reflect this business decision.

Managing Drafts

The management and retention of drafts is largely left up to agency discretion. Substantive feedback from high-ranking agency officials (Chiefs, Executive Officers, and so on) could absolutely constitute a substantive draft that would merit retention.

CalRIM recommends retaining the substantive drafts either:

1) With the final report (Note, the retention schedule series description might say something like, ‘includes the final published Report XYZ submitted to ____ and substantive drafts with edits and feedback from Executive leadership’ or something similar), OR

2) As part of a separate Project File series related to the creation of the report (Note, retention schedule series description might say something like, ‘includes communications, substantive drafts including edits from Executive leadership, and documentation of the final draft.’)

Non-substantive drafts might be listed on the retention schedule as a separate series or be included as part of a transitory/non-record series description. The retention for these records would be listed as “Active” and the Remarks column on your retention schedule would most likely specify “Active until superseded or report finalized.”

Managing Office 365 Version History

Again, the agency has the discretion as to what records it needs to create or retain to perform its functions and what tools and processes are utilized. When using Office 365 and version history to manage previous versions of reports, it is generally easier to manage the version history as part of the final report and apply retention to that file. The full version history is then managed based on the life/retention of the final file.

Alternatively, identify specific versions or substantive drafts with meaningful information and save those as separate files, either 1) before accepting the track changes; 2) before routing the file on to the next reviewer; or 3) after file completion by accessing and saving those drafts through version history.

Record vs. Record Series

Remember, a record is information captured on paper, electronic, film or magnetic media that is created or received by an agency during the course of business.

Records may consist of a particular subject, which can result from the same activity, or have a distinctive form—such as maps, blueprints, and purchase requests, etc. A record series may exist in any format—electronic, magnetic, microfilm, paper.

A record series is a group of related records arranged under, or in support of, a single major category or function on a records retention schedule. Organizing records in a record series can make an agency’s schedule less confusing and easy to read. Records are created and maintained as in record series because of their relationship to each other and the operational purpose they serve.

Record Series Title

When creating a series, there should be an overarching title that is specific to the records included. Each record series must have a title. The title should be concise and descriptive of the types of records contained in that series.

For example, the title “Project X Files” refers to records that are specific to a certain project, are being created or completed by the office, and have a measurable start and end date.

Record Series Description

Record series also require descriptions. Descriptions explain the purpose and function that the records contained in that series support, and also should include a listing of the records one might find within the series.

All records in a record series should have the same retention period and trigger event that starts their retention.

Record Series Example:
Project X Files [Title]: Consultant Reports, Budget Reports, Media Activity, and email correspondence. (These records are used for…) [Description]

Let’s take a closer look at this example Project X Files record series. These project files may include what some would consider to be separate functions (see the reference to consultant reports, finance/budget reports, media activity). However, these have been combined into one series because they are specific to the project, and due to this context, are retained alongside the other Project X files that exist.

Maybe the Fiscal Division within your organization produces the budget reports, but they submit them to the project manager. The Fiscal Division retention schedule may list their own records series for Budget Reports, as the agency’s communication team may also account for Media Activity record; however, the unique function of your division to manage the project merits the retention of these records as a records series because they support a specific and unique function related to that project.

The structure of a record series should reflect the functions performed within the State agency. Records should be organized into series based upon how they are used to support the agency’s business operations. Records series usually align with the arrangement of records (how they are organized). All the records in the records series should have the same retention period. How to enter these records and records series in the inventory and on the Records Retention, Schedule will be covered later in this Handbook.

How Are Records Useful:

During a records inventory, the division or unit within the agency will list all records their office is responsible for, whether those records are in drawers, filing cabinets, at the State Records Center (or other third-party storage facility), on computers or cloud storage, and so on. All the records will then be combined into records series and added to the division or unit’s Records Retention Schedule.

The Life of Record: Creation to Disposition

Very few records are important enough to be kept forever. Regular office files may only need to be retained for a certain period of years, then destroyed.

A record’s creation and its disposition are the beginning and ending of its life. The creation and usage periods are referred to as the “active periods”. A record is considered “inactive” when it is no longer in use, and is then stored for its retention period.

  • Active Period: From the time of creation or receipt, records are considered “active” while they are still being used and have not met their cutoff date. Inactive records are no longer used or accessed frequently and have met their cutoff date.
  • Cutoff Date: The event or time when a record stops supporting current work begins the records’ retention period. Common examples include ‘end of the year in which created’, ‘project completion,’ or even ‘from creation date’, ‘from date received’, and so on.
  • Retention Period: The amount of time records are kept after they have performed the function for which they were created/received, but still have value, either for various business needs or for a specific statute of limitations requirement.
  • Disposition: The end of life for a record, as it no longer has value and has met its retention period. Disposition is either destruction (if there are no audit/legal holds) or archival transfer.
  • Destruction: When information and records reach the end of their retention and have no further legal, fiscal, or administrative value, they are safely destroyed. OR
  • Archival Transfer: If a record is appraised by the archivists at the State Archives to have historical value, the record is transferred to the State Archives to become part of the collection. A record’s archival value is determined by the State Archives, not by State agencies.5 Once the record is transferred to the State Archives, it no longer belongs to the State agency.

By examining how records are created, who uses them, where they are stored, and how often they need to be referenced, State agencies will be able to make informed decisions regarding the retention and disposition of records on their retention schedule. Space, time, and money may be saved by following the natural life of an agency’s records, which ensures that they are not kept longer than necessary.