I. POLICY STATEMENT:
Official public records and Office files
and memoranda shall be preserved, retained, destroyed or
disposed of in accordance with record retention schedules set
in law. RCW 40.14.060. Please see the Desktop
Guide for Records Retention concerning individual
staff responsibilities.
A. Retention:
Pursuant to chapter 40.14
RCW, all public records shall be and remain the property
of the state. For purposes of this policy “public
record” shall mean any paper, correspondence, completed form,
bound record book, photograph, film, sound recording, map
drawing, machine-readable material, or other document,
regardless of physical form or characteristic, and including
such copies thereof, that have been made by or received by the
AGO in connection with the transaction of public business.
B. Recycling of Drafts and
Duplicate Copies of Official Records:
The office encourages recycling of records
not legally required to be retained.
C. Destruction of Drafts and
Duplicate Copies of Official Record:
The Attorney General recognizes that office
files frequently contain drafts or duplicate copies of records
which (1) are attorney work product, attorney-client
privileged, personnel-related or highly sensitive
investigative documents, (2) are not legally required to be
retained, and (3) need to be destroyed in a manner which does
not compromise confidentiality. If these documents fit
into one of these criteria, they may be destroyed in
accordance with division specific standards and procedures
approved pursuant to this policy.
It is the intent
of the Attorney General that not every division or office have
specialized equipment for the destruction of documents.
It is also the intent of the Attorney General that restraint
be exercised in the development of internal divisional
standards and procedures on document destruction, and in their
implementation.
II.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Division Chief,
Lead Support or Administrative Office
Manager shall ensure that
records are retained, archived according to Office Archiving
Procedures and disposed of in accordance with
appropriate laws and retention schedules.
The Office Services Manager shall provide
retention schedules to divisions and units with guidance as
needed, and coordinates archive training to staff on record
retention requirements.
All Staff shall be familiar
with the responsibilities under the Desktop
Guide for
Records Retention.
The
Division Chief, Lead Support or
Administrative Office Manager shall determine
the need for equipment in accordance with this policy and
shall submit to the Deputy Attorney General or Chief of Staff,
as appropriate, for approval. The Deputy Attorney
General or Chief of Staff shall review
and approve purchases as appropriate.
The
Division Chief or Administrative Office
Manager shall ensure development of division specific
procedures and standards for document destruction which may be
unique to the needs of the division, but which must be
consistent with this policy.
The Deputy
Attorney General or Chief of Staff shall
approve division specific standards and procedures.
/s/
Rob
McKenna
ROB
MCKENNA
Attorney General