1. Records Management – Best Practices for Municipalities Presented by Joseph C. Dickman, Jr., MBA Fireproof Records Center 4/28/2010 1 OMCA Columbus

2. Quick Quiz Your City Attorney has just announced that your municipality is being sued and you must locate, retain, and produce “all records” relevant to the matter Can you? Identify the records and their current location Retrieve them easily and cost-effectively Ensure the Court that you have produced everything required 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 2

3. Facts about Ohio 5,200 Local Government Entities Counties Cities Villages Townships School Districts Special Taxing Districts 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 3

4. Ohio’s Local Government Records Program -- Purpose Under the auspices of the Ohio Historical Society Ensure that you are following Ohio Laws Save your office time Save your office storage space Save your office MONEY 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 4

5. Records Management Information Explosion Information growing at an exponential rate Paper – still being generated at ever-increasing rates Electronic – Servers, Email, Instant Messaging, Twitter, PDAs, Notebooks, et. al. 4/28/2010 5 OMCA Columbus

6. Why are We Here? Continued Compliance Requirements Ohio Revised Code – section 149.31 The Ohio Historical Society, in addition to its other functions, shall function as the state archives administration for the state and its political subdivisions 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 6

7. Definition 149.011 ORC -- Definition of a record Records include any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, created or received by or coming under the jurisdiction of any public office of the state or its political subdivisions, which serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the office 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 7

8. Definition - 2 149.011 ORC -- Definition of a public office Public Office includes any state agency, public institution, political subdivision, or any other organized body, office, agency, or institution, or entity established by the laws of this state for the exercise of any function of government 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 8

9. Responsibilities under ORC 149 Prompt inspection Keep regular business hours Cannot charge to inspect records Anyone can inspect records Do not have to be an Ohio resident Do not have to provide a reason to see records Request does not have to be in writing 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 9

10. Responsibilities – cont’d. Provide copies Copy fee must be a reasonable amount Charge only for actual cost of copy You cannot charge for employee’s time 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 10

11. Exceptions to the Public Records Law 149.43 Medical records Records pertaining to probation, and parole proceedings Trial preparation records Confidential law enforcement investigatory records 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 11

12. Costs of Non-compliance Failure to Comply with 149.351 $1,000 per offense Reasonable attorney fees 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 12

13. Municipal Records Commission Chief Executive Officer (or appointed representative) as chairperson Chief Fiscal Officer Chief Legal Officer Citizen (appointed by the chairman) Meet at least once every 6 months 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 13

14. Records Commission - Functions Provide rules for retention and disposal of records Review retention schedules and disposal requests submitted by the office Provide that procedures are followed for scheduling and disposing of records Revise retention schedules May hire an archivist and a secretary 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 14

15. Records Commission - Meetings Must be open to the public Public must be given notice that the meeting is going to occur Must meet at least once every 6 months 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 15

16. Obstacles to Compliance Need to contain costs Costs increasing Budgets shrinking Where are the $$$$? 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 16

17. The Financial Mess High Unemployment Decreased Tax Revenues Budget surplus now a deficit 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 17

18. What Does That Mean to Me? Need Compliance Need Cost-effectiveness Solution -- Compliant Records Program that Includes: Retention schedule Off-site Storage Electronic Records Secure Destruction 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 18

19. Steps to a Compliant Program Ensure that you have a compliant RM program Records Inventory / Audit Retention Schedule Creation Program Promulgation Periodic Audits Continuous Improvement 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 19

20. How Do I Do It? Do an inventory of your existing records Physical Inventory – File cabinets, boxes Search everywhere System Inventory Servers Desktop PCs Mobile PCs and PDAs Email 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 20

21. Records Analysis Review for various Retention needs Operational / Administrative Fiscal (Audit & Tax) Legal / Regulatory Historical 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 21

22. Review Retention Schedule What has changed? What did you miss the last time? Are your retention times consistent with current: Operational needs Legislative and regulatory requirements Fiscal needs (audit and tax) Historical needs 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 22

23. Create / Revise Retention Schedule Ensure that you have accounted for all records identified in the inventory (delete any no longer created / retained) Do records analysis for retention periods Operational / Administrative need Legal / Regulatory need Fiscal need Historical need 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 23

24. Create / Revise Retention Schedule - 2 Assign appropriate retention period Generally longest of the different requirements May be event based Do not inflate for “just in case” Obtain approvals through Ohio Historical Soc. Promulgate to all staff Follow up with periodic audits to ensure compliance An unaudited program will quickly become non-compliant Do what your schedule says you will 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 24

25. Records Disposition Follow retention schedule requirements Dispose of appropriately Complete RC-3 and wait 15 business days Shred Recycle Create litigation hold procedures Ensure that hold is created and enforced in a timely fashion Follow up is critical 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 25

26. Benefits of a Compliant RM Program It will save you MONEY Fewer file cabinets, servers, etc. to buy and maintain Less space needed to store unnecessary information It will save you TIME Less time searching through useless information It may just save your BUSINESS Or your client’s business 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 26

27. Costs of Non-Compliance Increased storage costs Increased search / retrieval costs Adverse impact on customer service Potential for adverse audit findings Potential for adverse litigation result 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 27

28. Additional Resources Ohio Local Government Records Program at OHS: http://www.ohiohistory.org/portal/lgr-p.html ARMA International – Association of Records Managers and Administrators www.arma.org Columbus Chapter ARMA meets monthly September thru June see www.armacolumbus.org for meetings and other information 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 28

29. Take Home # 1 Having a compliant RM program will INCREASE your ROI – (Return on Investment) 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 29

30. Take Home # 2 Having a compliant RM program will DECREASE your ROI – (Risk of Incarceration) 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 30

31. Questions??? Let me know if I can help Joseph C. Dickman, Jr., MBA Fireproof Records Center 614-317-9228 – office phone 614-419-5210 – mobile phone jdickman@fireproof.com -- email 4/28/2010 OMCA Columbus 31