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Township Trustees and Public Records

Township Trustees and Public Records. Indiana Township Association Conference September 25, 2013. What is a Government Record?. Not this kind of record.

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Township Trustees and Public Records

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  1. Township Trustees and Public Records Indiana Township Association Conference September 25, 2013

  2. What is a Government Record? Not this kind of record “Any writing, paper, report, study, map, photograph, card, tape recording, or other material that is created, received, retained, maintained, used or filed by a public agency and which is generated on paper, paper substitutes, photographic media, chemically based media, electronically stored data, or any other material, regardless of form or characteristics.”

  3. Government Records • What Does That Include? • Paper • Film and microforms • Website • Email • Data in a database • Born-digital records • Scanned/Digitized images • Audio files • Social Media • Metadata and Indexes

  4. What is Records Retention? • How is the length of retention determined? • Generally, Records Management staff work with an agency to identify: • The Administrative and Fiscal value • Legal value • Public Demand and Interest, and • Historical value of the information • Paper, Film, Electronic, Stone Tablets • Retention is based upon content – NOT storage media

  5. Local Government Retention Schedules • County /Local General Retention Schedule (GEN) – NEW • General Retention Financial (COGRFIN) - DELETED • Township Trustee Retention Schedule (TT) - REVISED • County Auditors' Retention Schedule (AU) - REVISED • County Clerks: Miscellaneous Records (CL) - REVISED • County Coroner: General Retention Schedule (CO) - NEW • County Recorders (RE) - REVISED • County Treasurers (TR) – REVISED The local retention schedules are located at: in.gov/icpr/2739.htm

  6. County/Local General Retention Schedule (CLGRS) This Retention Schedule is divided into five (5) categories: 1. Administrative2. Accounting and Finance3. Personnel4. Publications and Reports5. Audio, Video and General Media Retention periods for some records are increased in length of time to be retained because current Indiana Code statute of limitations have been applied to all records on this schedule.

  7. Destruction of Records • It’s often illegal to destroy government records if you do not have an approved records retention schedule or permission from the records oversight organization. Indiana Law: A public official may not mutilate, destroy, sell, loan, or otherwise dispose of any government record, except under a retention schedule or with the written consent of the commission (on public records). IC 5-15-5.1-1-14

  8. Retention Periods… • Transitory: can be destroyed immediately. • Short-term: generally ten years or less. • Long-term: greater than ten years and not permanent. • Permanent: A long, long time; like forever.

  9. Permanent Records • In many jurisdictions, you can only destroy permanent paper records if you MICROFILM the original paper records. • If you digitize Permanent records, or they are submitted electronically, they may also be REQUIRED to be converted to microfilm. • Digital records are generally NOT recognized as Permanent format to preserve information.

  10. Electronic Records & Preservation • Challenges of Digital Technology • Fragile media • Technology dependence • Technology obsolescence • Distributed storage • Where is the record copy? • Chain of custody • Easy to copy, hard to preserve • Explosive growth

  11. Digital Format Obsolescence “There is considerable controversy over the physical lifetimes of media: for example, some claim that tape will last for 200 years, whereas others report that it often fails in a year or two. However, physical lifetime is rarely the limiting factor, since at any given point in time, a particular format of a given medium can be expected to become obsolete within no more than 5 years.” Jeff Rothenberg, ”Ensuring the Lifetime of Digital Information” Physical Avg. Time MediumLifetimeUntil Obsoleteoptical (CD) 5-59 years 5 yearsdigital tape 2-30 years 5 yearsmagnetic disk 5-10 years 5 years

  12. Integrity and Authenticity • How can we verify our electronic records? • Algorithms to check size, degradation and file modifications • PDF/A: an archival PDF that is a more preservable and less complex that a regular PDF. • What about redaction to provide public access to partially confidential records? • Never redact in a way that changes the original record, always redact on the copy for the public.

  13. State Sponsored Workshops • This summer, ICPR and the SHRAB will be offering a series of records management workshops across Indiana: • Preservation of records • Archival Basics • Electronic Records • Government records • IPER Training – • Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records this spring - webinars

  14. ICPR Local Records Website IN.gov/icpr/2359: • Specific to County/Local Records • Records Retention Schedules • Example of County E-Mail Retention Policy (Bartholomew Co. • Guide to Preservation and Destruction of Local Public Record • Forms (for county/local records) • County and Local Government Links • General Records Management • What is a Retention Schedule? • Publications • Laws • Links • Records Disaster Prevention and Reporting

  15. Proposed Legislative Changes - 2014 IC 5-15-6-13 Access to historic records Sec. 13. The commission shall weigh the need for preservation from deterioration or mutilation of original records in establishing access to such items, if a true and accurate copy is available subject to the approval of the ISARA.

  16. Proposed Legislative Changes - 2014 IC 5-15-6-14 Delivery of records by public official to successor     Sec. 15. (a) A public official who has the custody of any records, excluding personal records, shall at the expiration of his term of office or appointment, in accordance with an approved records retention schedule deliver to his successor, or to the ISARA, all materials defined as records by this chapter.    (b) Upon the termination of a unit of local government whose functions have not been transferred to another unit, the records of the unit shall be deposited with the ISARA. The ISARA shall determine which records are of sufficient legal, historical, administrative, research or fiscal value to warrant their continued preservation. Records that are determined to be of insufficient value to warrant continued preservation shall be disposed of or destroyed.

  17. Proposed Legislative Changes - 2014 IC 5-15-6-15 Establishment of policies, standards and rules Sec. 15. Local governments are subject to all policies, standards and rules adopted by the ISARA or the Oversight Committee on Public Records established by IC 5-15-5.1-18.

  18. Notice of Destruction – SF 44905

  19. Request for Permission to Destroy or Transfer– PR-1, SF 30505

  20. 2016 Bicentennial Projects • Honoring the Delegates • June of 2016 • Wreath Laying Ceremonies • Exhibition of State Treasures • Constitutions • Artifacts • Delegate Book 92 County Run in the Fall of 2016 December 2016 – Indianapolis 2016 Medallion Conservation Project with DNR

  21. Thanks! Jim Corridan & Bev Stiers Indiana Commission on Public Records bstiers@icpr.in.gov 317-232-3380

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