Creating and Updating Records Retention Schedules

Records retention schedules identify and describe ALL public records created by the county, as well as provide instructions for final disposition of those records. Public records are defined explicitly by Colorado Revised Statutes 24-80-101. Simplified, public records are generally defined as: information, regardless of physical form or characteristics, which is produced, collected, received, or retained in connection with the transaction of public business.

Creating and Updating Retention Schedules
Records Management (RM) is responsible for developing Records Retention Schedules for all County departments. Each department has a Departmental Specific Records Retention Schedule which is meant to list all the records created by that department, define the amount of time the records must be retained, and the final disposition of the records. There is also a General Records Retention Schedule that lists those records common to most departments, such as time cards or bank account records.

We work closely with each department to compile Records Retention Schedules. Identifying and describing a set of records, as well as defining a retention period, is a process that involves the staff that create and use the records as well as RM. The administrative, fiscal, legal, and historical value of each set of records must be examined and determined by all concerned. Local, state, or federal laws may also influence retention time and must also be considered.

Approval Process
Any changes to existing records retention schedules, and all new schedules, must be reviewed by the Jefferson County Attorney's Office. The Colorado State Archives and State Attorney General give final approval. Additionally, each year the Colorado State Archives re-approves and re-issues the records retention schedules for Jefferson County. Once approved, a records retention schedule provides the legal authority necessary to destroy public records.

ATTENTION
Functional Retention Schedules supersede Departmental Retention Schedules

In an effort to simplify the records retention process, RM is moving away from Departmental Retention Schedules and implementing Functional Retention Schedules. Functional Retention Schedules are based on broad categories, such as Financial Records, Meeting Records, or Human Resources Records. To ease the process, as records series are moved from Department to Functional Retention Schedules, the schedules are cross-referenced. Departmental Retention Schedules reference the series that have moved to Functional Retention Schedules along with the new series number. The new Functional Retention Schedules notate the former series number of items that used to be on Departmental Retention Schedules.

Functional Retention Schedule showing previous Departmental Retention Schedule series numbers in blue:

Functional

Departmental Retention Schedule showing new Functional Retention Schedule series number in red:

Departmental

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Last Modified:Apr 12, 2011 03:19 PM