Skip to main content

Records Management Policy

PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This policy provides guidelines for the management of all District documents, including those in fire stations, to ensure that records are maintained and available as needed. This policy also provides guidance on the retention, disposition, and security of records._

POLICY

It is the policy of the Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District to promote the efficient and cost-effective conduct of District business by reducing the number of records in active file areas, eliminating unnecessary retention of duplicate or obsolete documents, and providing for timely transfer of inactive files in compliance with legal requirements.

DEFINITIONS

Active Records- Documents that are used during the regular course of business or accessed more than once a month.

Administrative Records- Records commonly found in all offices and used in the conduct of daily business. These are typically retained for short time periods or when the transactions to which they relate have been completed. Examples include work plans and forms.

Damaged Records- Physical records that have been damaged by water, fire, and other forms of contamination during natural and man-made disasters, or electronic records that have been corrupted due to hardware failure, software bugs, power outages and other forms of electronic corruption. Dependent on the severity of the damage, records may be recovered or may need to be declared unrecoverable and destroyed.

Electronic Records- A record that requires a computer to read and translate the information for people to read.

Inactive Records- Records that are accessed an average of less than once a month, but that have not completed their full retention period. These records may be stored in a separate location from active files.

Non-Records- Materials not kept in the ordinary course of business such as external magazines, bulk mailers, newspapers, business cards, flyers, advertisements, bulk solicitations, non-historic photographs, etc. that have limited value to the Authority and retention would be burdensome.

Permanent Records- The District is prohibited from destroying or disposing of a record that is any of the following:

  1. Relates to the formation, change of organization, or reorganization of the District.
  2. A District ordinance unless it has been repealed or is invalid or unenforceable in which case it can be destroyed after five years after it was repealed or became invalid or unenforceable.
  3. Minutes of any meeting of the District's legislative body.
  4. Relates to a pending claim or litigation or any settlement or other disposition of litigation within the last two years.
  5. Records that are subject of a pending Public Records Act request, whether or not the District maintains that the record is exempt from disclosure, until the request is granted or two years have passed since denial.
  6. Relates to construction that the District has not accepted, or as to which a stop notice claim legally may be presented.
  7. Relates to any non-discharged debts of the District.
  8. Relates to the title to real property to which the District has an interest.
  9. Relates to any non-discharged contract to which the District is a party.
  10. Has not fulfilled its administrative, fiscal, or legal purpose for which it was created or received.
  11. Is an unaccepted bid or proposal, which is less than two yeas old, for the construction or installation of any building, structure, or public work.
  12. Specifies the amount of compensation paid to District employees or officers or to independent contractors, or relates to expense reimbursements to District directors or employees, or the use of District credit cards or travel compensation. These records may be destroyed seven years after the date of payment.

Program Records- Records that relate to the primary function of the District in response to its daily mission. Examples include lien files, recorders files, election files, probate records, medical records, etc.

Records- Any writing, including all papers, maps, exhibits, electronic media, tapes, photographs, and other documents, containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business, prepared, owned, used, or retained by the District, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and kept in the ordinary course of business.

Custodian of Records- The employee charged with the managing and maintaining the District's records management program.

Record Retention Schedule- A list of all records produced or maintained by an agency and the actions taken with regards to those records. A retention schedule is an agency's legal authority to receive, create, retain, and dispose of official public records. It assists the agency by documenting which records require office of temporary storage, which records have historic or research value, and which records should be destroyed because they no longer have any administrative, fiscal, historical, or legal value.

Retention Period- The length of time a record must be retained to fulfill its administrative, fiscal, historical, and/or legal function. Then a record should be disposed of as soon as possible in accordance with an approved Records Retention Schedule.

Vital Records- Records required for daily operations and to resume those operations after a disaster. Records which, because of hte information they contain, are essential to one or all of the following:

  1. The resumption and/or continuation of operations;
  2. The recreation of legal and financial status of the District, in case of a disaster;
  3. The fulfillment of obligations to bondholders and employees.

CUSTODIAN OF RECORDS

The Fire Chief shall appoint a Custodian of Records, who will oversee the records management program, including the records retention schedule. The Custodian of Records or the authorized designee should:

  1. Remain familiar with the California Secretary of State Local Government Records Management Guidelines.
  2. Identify what records the District has, where the records are kept, the volume, and how the records are used.
  3. Maintain and update the District's records retention schedule, including:
    1. Preparing any amendments to the schedule and obtaining the necessary approvals for the amendments.
    2. Maintaining a current version of the District's records retention schedule and making it available to members for reference.
  4. Coordinate the placement of inactive records in storage, including:
    1. Maintaining a storage inventory.
    2. Providing an annual reminder to section managers to review files to determine if any records should be transferred to storage.
  5. Manage the destruction of District records, including:
    1. Annually reviewing the records retention schedule and storage inventory list to determine which records are eligible for destruction.
    2. Providing a list to section managers of records eligible to be destroyed.
    3. Obtaining any required approvals for the destruction of eligible records.
    4. Maintaining a list of records that have been destroyed.
  6. Ensure confidential and other sensitive records are stored or maintained to protect the sensitive nature of the records.
  7. Process subpoenas and requests for records as provided in the subpoenas, the Release of Records and Public Records Act, and the Patient Medical Record Security and Privacy policies.
  8. Establish rules regarding the inspection and copying of records as reasonably necessary for the protection of such records (Government Code § 7922.525; Government Code § 7922.530) This includes:
    1. Identifying records or portions of records that are confidential under state or federal law and not open for inspection or copying.
    2. Maintaining a schedule of fees for public records as allowed by law.
  9. Determine how the District website may be used to post public records in accordance with Government Code § 7922.545.
  10. Ensure that public records posted on the District website meet the requirements of Government Code § 7922.680, including but not limited to posting in an open format where a record may be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by a commonly used internet search application.
  11. Ensure that a list and description, when applicable, of enterprise systems (as defined by Government Code § 7922.700) is publicly available upon request and posted in a prominent location on the District website (Government Code § 7922.710; Government Code § 7922.720).

TRANSFERRING INACTIVE FILES TO STORAGE

To ensure efficiency and economy in utilization of office space for active records, all files not updated or referenced on a regular basis can be transferred to storage as follows:

  1. Annually, each Division should designate a person to conduct a review of all files to determine which records should be transferred to storage.
  2. Prior to transferring files, each file should be purged of duplicate items and records that do not require retention.
  3. Only one type of record should be placed in a box in preparation for storage, unless the records to be included in a single box have identical retention periods.
  4. Boxes with documents should be clearly marked with the following:
    1. The Division name
    2. A box number
    3. A short description of the contents including dates
  5. The Division shall contact the Custodian of Records to coordinate and arrange delivery of boxes to be stored.
  6. To request a file from the storage, a member should contact the Custodian of Records.

RESPONSIBILITIES

MEMBERS’ RESPONSIBILITY

All members are expected to handle records in a responsible manner and as provided in this policy.

Members are responsible to ensure that records in their control are maintained as provided in the records retention schedule.

SUPERVISORS' RESPONSIBILITY

Supervisors at fire stations are responsible for the management of records at the fire station level. The supervisors shall ensure that all records at the fire stations are retained in accordance with this policy.

TRAINING

The Custodian of Records should coordinate with the Training Officer to provide training regarding the records management program to the appropriate district members.

RECORD RETENTION SCHEDULE

The Records Retention Schedule provides a categorized list of records and required periods of retention for those records and should include all formats (electronic or hard copy). The schedule may be revised periodically to include new record types, to change retention periods, or to delete a record series no longer useful. The retention schedule is not intended to be a permanent fixed document, but flexible in nature to accommodate legal, administrative, or fiscal policy changes. Board approval is required for any such revisions.

All records are to be kept for the minimum retention periods stated in the Records Retention Scheudle. Notwithstanding such minimum retention periods, records must be maintained until required audits involving those records are completed, and relevant records should be retained beyond the listed retention periods when litigation is initiated prior to expiration of the retention periods or where litigation is reasonably anticipated either involving those relevant records or requiring their use.

In most cases, records not addressed in the Record Retention Schedule should be considered routine in nature and are to be identified as General Information under a specific record series. Retention for those files is two (2) years unless otherwise required by law.

RETENTION OF RECORDS NOT MENTIONED

All records, papers and documents not mentioned may be scanned as archival records or destroyed so long as such disposal is consistent with the recommendations of the Local Government Records Management Guidelines as set forth by the Secretary of State.

UNOFFICIAL AND NON-RECORDS

Unofficial records include drafts, works in progress, electronic records used to create a final version, copies of records, hand-written notes, and materials that are in a preliminary state and do not yet reflect the official position of the District. Non-records include library/research materials, publications, blank forms, and other material generally available to the public that does not reflect the position of the District. Unofficial and non-records are not subject to formal retention and destruction procedures nor disclosure, and may be destroyed when no longer needed.

ELECTRONIC RECORDS

Documents may be maintained for the prescribed minimum retention periods in electronic format.

DESTRUCTION

AUTHORIZATION FOR DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS

The Custodian of Records is responsible for the safekeeping, production, and destruction of those records. All records shown on the retention schedule shall be retained for the period of time shown and may be destroyed thereafter.

DESTRUCTION METHOD

Sensitive documents should be shredded before discarding. Other documents can be placed in the recycle bin or thrown away.

DESTRUCTION OF DUPLICATES

Any duplicate record, paper or document, the original or a permanent photographic copy of which is in the files of the District, may be destroyed after confirmation that such original or permanent photographic copy remains on file in the District.

DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS AFTER SCANNING

Any record not expressly required by law to be filed and preserved in original form may be destroyed at any time after it is electronically stored on the District's network, which is a trusted system that does not permit additions, deletions, or changes to the original document, and that accurately reproduces the original in all details. For the purposes of this section, every reproduction shall be deemed to be an original record.

Join our mailing list