On 12/18/06, Larry Medina wrote:

> The problem here is the scheduled
> retention period didn't meet the needs of the judicial system.  So
when it
> was set, not enough was done to involve all of the impacted parties
and a
> retention period was set that was too short to allow effective
prosecution
> of cases.

After a quick review of the Kentucky statutes, the retention period was
unchanged from prior years. And the order came from the judicial branch
- the same branch from which the complaint stemmed. What did change was
that the purge schedule was revised to include electronic records. This
change revealed a common and increasing dilemma: records with a legal
requirement to be destroyed after a period (in this case 5 yrs) linger
beyond their "expiration date", and thus are accessible beyond their
legal "lifecycle". Because the recorded information is available, and
useful, consumers build requirements on the ability to access the
"outdated" data. The dual-edge challenge Records Managers face is
compliance with destruction mandates while satisfying consumer needs to
access information.

> It's not uncommon for organizations to have a two-staged process for
> records that are converted to microfilm and/or electronic form ...
Yes...however once the "expiration date" is reached, even the electronic
or microfilmed records are to be destroyed. And since, in the Kentucky
case, the 5yr retention period had been reached, according to the law
the records were required to be  purged.

Do I agree? Probably not. I would likely have leveraged the clause that
the records still maintained "administrative value", and determined to
keep the records beyond their retention period to satisfy this need.

Does this emphasize that the Records Manager is in the uncomfortable
position of being non-compliant with the law if records schedules are
not followed? Probably.

Do we need to do a better job of defining and refining needs of records
in the age of digital information, and in particular address the
question "when does the life of and access to an electronic record
expire", and who needs to be notified? Yes.

Are Records Managers, in particular Clerks who service the Courts, in a
difficult situation when the judicial branch passes legislation
dictating retention periods...and then are harassed for performing their
assignment? Absolutely!

Susan M

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