2020/09/08 City Council Resolution 2020-080City Clerk’s Office
130 Avram Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
September 8, 2020
Adopted: Resolution 2020-XXX
Records Management Policy
Exhibit A to Resolution
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Table of Contents
1. Purpose ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Scope ......................................................................................................................................................... 1
3. Authorities ................................................................................................................................................ 1
3.1 General Rule for Records Retention ................................................................................................... 1
3.2 Public Records Act ............................................................................................................................... 2
3.3 Professional Standards and Retention Guidelines .............................................................................. 2
3.4 Penalties for Destruction of Public Records ........................................................................................ 2
4. Definitions ................................................................................................................................................ 2
4.1 Administrative Regulations ................................................................................................................. 2
4.2 City Employee ..................................................................................................................................... 2
4.3 Duplicate Copy .................................................................................................................................... 2
4.4 Legal Hold ............................................................................................................................................ 3
4.5 Non-record Writing ............................................................................................................................. 3
4.6 Record ................................................................................................................................................. 3
4.7 Retention Period ................................................................................................................................. 3
4.8 Retention Schedule ............................................................................................................................. 3
4.9 Transitory Writing ............................................................................................................................... 3
4.10 Trusted Copy ..................................................................................................................................... 3
4.11 Trusted System .................................................................................................................................. 3
4.12 Writing .............................................................................................................................................. 4
5. Policy ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
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1.PURPOSE
The Purpose of this Policy is to define the requirements that staff and officials of the City
of Rohnert Park (the “City”) will follow for managing the retention, protection and
disclosure of records and information in accordance with the City’s operational needs
and to comply with federal, state, and local laws.
2.SCOPE
2.1 This Policy is established by the City in accordance with all relevant federal, state, and
local laws, as summarized in Section 3, below.
2.2 Every writing (which includes records), as defined in Section 4, created or received by
a City employee in the course of executing any of the City's business, is subject to
compliance with this Policy.
2.3 The City Manager is hereby authorized to establish and maintain written
administrative regulations which implement this Policy. The administrative
regulations shall be subject to the recommendation of the City Clerk, approval as to
form by the City Attorney, and approval by the City Manager. A copy of the
administrative regulations shall be maintained by the Office of the City Clerk. The
administrative regulations shall include:
2.3.1 Standard procedures and guidelines to implement this Policy, provided that
the procedures and guidelines are consistent with the purposes, goals, and
requirements of this Policy. This shall include procedures for the effective
creation, use, maintenance, security, retention, storage, preservation, and
destruction of records by all City employees; including procedures for
complying with the "Trusted System" requirements of California Government
Code section 34090.5.
2.3.2 Identification of any delegation of duties, responsibilities, or authority from
the City Manager to other qualified City employees. This shall include a
delegation of duties, responsibilities, and authority for the maintenance and
lawful destruction of records.
2.3.3 Standard forms, and procedures for their use.This Policy applies to elected and
appointed officials, full-time, part-time and temporary employees and
volunteers, as well as contractors of the City who are acting on behalf of the
City and who have access to, use of, or are involved in the creation,
maintenance or storage of the City’s records and information.
3.AUTHORITIES
The legal authorities and professional guidelines applicable to the management of
City records include the following:
3.1 General Rule for Records Retention. As a general rule, the City is required to
retain public records for at least two years (California Government Code
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sections 34090, et seq.). There are limited exceptions to this general rule that
authorize the City to destroy records earlier than two years; however, there are
many more exceptions to this general rule (based on legal requirements and
considerations of public policy) that require a longer period of retention. This
Policy and the Retention Schedule document the required periods of retention.
3.2 Public Records Act. The California Public Records Act (Government Code sections
6250, et seq.) provides definitions for "writings" and "public records," for the
purpose of determining which records are required to be disclosed to the public
upon request. It also identifies which records are confidential or otherwise
exempt from disclosure to the public. The definitions of the Public Records Act
are used as a basis for the definitions set forth in this Policy.
3.3 Professional Standards and Retention Guidelines. Selected professional
associations and other governmental agencies, such as the California Secretary
of State, the Department of Justice, and the City Clerk's Association, have
published standards, model retention guidelines, and/or articles recommending
retention periods for different types of records. Although these standards and
guidelines are not binding on the City, the City has taken these documents into
consideration in establishing the City's Retention Schedule.
3.4 Penalties for Destruction of Public Records. There are serious penalties for
unlawful destruction of public records. California Government Code section 6200
provides for punishment by imprisonment up to four years for any City employee
who is found guilty of willfully destroying (including altering, falsifying,
mutilating, defacing, or stealing, in whole or in part) a public record without
complying with the requirements of law, including this Policy.
4.DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of this policy, the following terms are defined below.
4.1 "Administrative Regulations" means the administrative regulations and
procedures approved by the City Manager, in accordance with the provisions of
Section 2.3 of this Policy, in order to implement the requirements of this Policy.
4.2 "City Employee" means any person hired or contracted to perform services for
the City in a position approved by the City Council as a part of the Budget Staffing
Plan, including any full-time, part-time, or limited term employee.
4.3 "Duplicate Copy" means a writing that is a copy of an original record, if the copy
is not within the definition of "Trusted Copy." Duplicate Copy also includes any
original record that has been replaced by a "Trusted Copy."
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4.4 "Legal Hold" means a written notice from the City Manager, City Attorney, or the
City Clerk that precludes the destruction of any record or writing, typically based
on pending litigation or a claim filed against the city, until released.
4.5 "Non-record Writing" means any writing which is not within the definition of
"Record." Examples of non-record writings include writings that do not contain
information relating to the conduct of the City's business (such as brochures,
catalogs, seminar announcements, magazines, and newspapers).
4.6 "Record" means a "Public Record" as defined by Government Code section 6252.
"Record" means any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the
City's business prepared, owned, used, or retained by the City regardless of
physical form or characteristics. Thus, "Record" or "Public Record" includes the
subsets of all "Trusted Copies."
4.7 "Retention Period" means the minimum length of time that a particular record
shall be retained by the City before it is destroyed in accordance with this Policy.
The Retention Period shall be identified on the Retention Schedule.
4.8 "Retention Schedule" means the schedule which identifies a minimum retention
period for each category of record. The Retention Schedule is subject to the
approval of the City Council by resolution, and may be amended periodically by
City Council resolution.
4.9 "Transitory Writing" means writings that are not retained in the ordinary course
of business, in accordance with the requirements of this Policy and the
Administrative Regulations, and generally includes writings that have only
transitory value for use by an individual City employee (e.g., personal notes or
drafts that are not provided to another person).
4.10 "Trusted Copy" means a copy of an original record that is generated in a manner
by which the copy accurately and legibly reproduces the original record in all
details and that does not permit additions, deletions, or changes to the original
record images. The Trusted Copy must be generated by a "Trusted System" in
accordance with the requirements of Government Code section 34090.5, and
the Administrative Regulations. Once a "Trusted Copy" is created, it shall replace
the original record; and the original record may be lawfully destroyed as a
"Duplicate Copy." The "Trusted Copy" must be retained as a record in accordance
with the requirements of this Policy and the Retention Schedule.
4.11 "Trusted System" means a combination of techniques, policies, and procedures
for which there is no plausible scenario in which a document retrieved from or
reproduced by the system could differ substantially from the document that was
originally stored or created as more particularly defined in Government Code
section 12168.7.
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4.12 "Writing" means any recording of any communication or representation
(including letters, words, symbols, pictures, visual images, sounds, or
combinations thereof), including any handwriting, typewriting, printing,
photographing, photo-stating, photocopying, video recording, voice recording,
transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording
upon any tangible thing (including papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes,
photographic films and prints, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, and
other documents). Thus, "writing" is an all-inclusive definition that includes the
subsets of all records, public records, trusted copies, duplicate copies, non-
record writings, and transitory writings (See California Government Code section
6252).
5.POLICY
5.1 Each City employee shall create, use, maintain, store, preserve, secure, and
retain all records in accordance with this Policy, the Retention Schedule, and the
Administrative Regulations. Records shall be retained for the Retention Period
identified on the Retention Schedule, unless modified by this Policy and the
Administrative Regulations. Records may be lawfully destroyed only in
compliance with the requirements of this Policy and the Administrative
Regulations.
5.2 The City Manager is authorized to include, as a part of the Administrative
Regulations, procedures by which City employees are authorized to destroy
writings that are less than two years old if the writing is within any one of the
following categories:
5.2.1 Any original record that is replaced by a trusted copy, as defined by
Section 4.10.
5.2.2 Any duplicate copy of a record, as defined by Section 4.3. The
Administrative Regulations shall require the City Employee who
authorizes the destruction of the duplicate copy to ensure that the
writing is not needed for the conduct of the City's business, that it is a
duplicate copy, and that there is an original record (from which the
duplicate copy was made) being retained in accordance with the
Retention Schedule consistent with the provisions of California
Government Code section 34090.7.
5.2.3 Any non-record writing, as defined by Section 4.5
5.2.4 Any transitory writing, as defined by Section 4.9. The Administrative
Regulations shall require the City employee who authorizes destruction
of the transitory writing to ensure that the writing is not needed for the
conduct of the City's business, that it was prepared by a City employee
as a personal note for that City employee's personal use, that it was not
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provided to any other person, and that the public interest in destroying
the writing (for purposes of maintaining effective and accessible public
records) clearly outweighs the public interest in retaining the writing.
5.2.5 Any writing for which there is an independent legal basis for destruction,
as set forth in the Retention Schedule, including any federal or state
statute or regulation. This shall include procedures for the destruction of
routine video monitoring, and recordings of telephone and radio
communications, in accordance with California Government Code
section 34090.6.
5.3 The City Manager shall include, as a part of the Administrative Regulations,
procedures that ensure that no record or writing shall be destroyed (whether
pursuant to the Retention Schedule, or any provision of Policy Section 5.2) if the
record or writing is the subject of a pending request for disclosure or inspection
of a public record (pursuant to the requirements of California Government Code
sections 6250, et seq.), or (b) the record or writing is the subject of a legal hold.
A "legal hold" is a written notice from the City Manager, City Attorney, or the
City Clerk that precludes the destruction of any record or writing, typically based
on pending litigation or a claim filed against the City, until the legal hold is
released.