Updates on Local Records Retention Schedules

In March 2019, the State Archives of North Carolina (SANC) released the General Records Schedule for Local Government Agencies.  Since the release of that document we have listened to and collected feedback from various local government agencies and will be implementing some changes into how this document is approved, as well as how local government schedules will be approved going forward.

Most importantly, we are working on changes to the signature page language which will streamline the approval process for all retention schedules going forward.  This has affected our timeline for releasing the 2020 schedules.  Initially targeted for January 2020, we are now looking at Spring 2020 as a new target date for the release of the following schedules:

• Agricultural Extensions
• Government Management Standards (both County Management and Municipalities)
• Local Public School Units [formerly Local Education Agencies]
• Regional Councils of Government
• Tourism Development Authorities

We will continue to post drafts of these updates to the blog for your review.  Already posted  are:

• General Records Schedule for Local Government Agencies; Animal Services standard for Government Management; and Public Housing standard for Government Management
• Street Maintenance, Public Works, and Engineering for Government Management standard; Local Public School Units (Local Education Agencies)
• Public Utilities and Environmental/Waste Management standard for Government Management

Additionally, our initial goal was to update the General Records Schedule for Local Government Agencies on an annual basis.  Knowing that some counties and municipalities can only meet sparingly throughout the year to approve these documents, we have decided that the General Schedule will only receive comprehensive updates every 5 years.  If necessary, amendments (or less comprehensive updates) necessitated by legislative or statutory changes may be issued in intervening years.

Finally, we are combining Municipal and County Management functions into a single “Government Management Standards” schedule.  This document will include all standards previously located on the Municipal and County Management schedules (besides those removed for inclusion in the General Records Schedule for Local Government Agencies) and may be approved by both counties and municipalities.

The goal of the Records Analysis Unit is to ensure that the signature and approval process for local retention schedules is as streamlined as possible and to aid and assist local government agencies with making sure that they are approving and using the most up-to-date schedules available.

As always, we welcome any feedback you may have in this matter so please contact a records analyst if you have any questions or suggestions.