ELECTRONIC MAIL RETENTION & DISPOSITION

1. ELECTRONIC MAIL RETENTION & DISPOSITION D. Dawson, CRMState Records ManagerDept. of Education & Early Development

2. ELECTRONIC RECORD DEFINED UNDER AS 40.21.150(4) Means any information that is recorded in machine readable form.

3. EMAIL IS: Recorded information created/received on an electronic mail system Subject to public information requests and discovery Targeted by lawyers, regulators, auditors and investigators

4. DISCOVERY In the old days, the discovery subpoena had to state specifically what the lawyers wanted to see. Now, a more general statement is true: IF IT EXISTS AND SOMEONE ASKS TO SEE IT, THE AGENCY HAS TO PRODUCE IT!

5. ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES[TYPICALLY RECORDS] POLICIES & DIRECTIVES BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE AGENDAS & MINUTES OF MEETINGS ANY DOCUMENT THAT INITIATES, AUTHORIZES OR COMPLETES AGENCY BUSINESS FINAL REPORTS OR RECOMMENDATIONS

6. [NOT TYPICALLY RECORDS] COPIES OR EXTRACTS OF DOCUMENTS DISTRIBUTED FOR REFERENCE PERSONAL MESSAGES NOT RELATED TO OFFICIAL BUSINESS PHONE MESSAGE SLIPS & VOICE-MAIL ANNOUNCEMENTS OF SOCIAL EVENTS, SUCH AS RETIREMENT PARTIES OR CELEBRATIONS EMPLOYEE CONVENIENCE COPIES

7. SOA ELECTRONIC MAIL RETENTION & RECORDS POLICY Provides guidelines and explains records retention requirements for email messages. Primary focus is to ensure that use of the SOA email system and administration of public email records is consistent, predictable, and reliable under state and federal law.

8. ZANTAZ: ENTERPRISE ARCHIVE SYSTEM 1. Reduces System Costs 2. Facilitates Legal Discovery 3. Ensures Retention Compliance: Rules

9. RESPONSIBILITY: SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS WILL Ensure agency complies with AS 40.21 (State Records Act) and updates retention schedules older than four years Ensure staff consistently follow established email policies, procedures and processes Contact AGO prior to records disposal if legal hold or litigation

10. HOW LONG DO I KEEP “RECORD” EMAIL, INCLUDING ATTACHMENTS? Identify applicable Program or General records retention schedule; retain as long as authorized under schedule Add records series to schedule if necessary Archive into Zantaz or print out and retain for full retention period

11. RESPONSIBILITY: PROGRAM STAFF WILL Archive email in accord will all policies, procedures or processes Dispose of non-record email and record email whose retention has been met Work with IT technicians/specialists to establish retention rules in Zantaz and build folders modeled after retention schedule

12. RETENTION GUIDELINES Official Record Retention 1 YEAR RETENTION: READING FILES 3 YEAR RETENTION: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE 10 YEAR RETENTION: FELONY CASE FILES Transitory Record Retention 30-90 DAY RETENTION: NO NEED TO ARCHIVE Permanent Record Retention PRINT & TRANSMIT TO STATE ARCHIVES; OR, PLACE IN PERMANENT BUCKET Non-Record Retention DO NOT RETAIN

13. EXAMPLES: SAMPLE RETENTION FOLDER NAMES Project Files—5yr Project A Project B Project C General Correspondence—3yr ROW Lease Case Files—Permanent

15. WHOM TO CONTACT RE EMAIL RETENTION & DISPOSITION: D. Dawson, CRM Records Management Program dean_dawson@eed.state.ak.us