This document summarizes the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Coalition of Federal Ombudsmen held on November 9, 2010. It discusses the legal requirements for federal records management as defined in the United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations. It also outlines the process for federal agencies to request disposition of records and notes that the Archivist of the United States must approve all records schedules. Only a small percentage of federal records are considered permanent.

1. Coalition of Federal Ombudsmen
Ninth Annual Meeting
November 9, 2010

2.  Not here as “records police”
 Only to point out records management
requirements in laws/regulations
 The National Archives and Records
Administration is here to help

3. 44 United States Code
 2107 - 2108 NARA & archival records
 2901 - 2909 RM by GSA and NARA
 3101 - 3107 RM by Federal agencies
 3301 - 3314 Disposal of records
 3504, 3513 OMB’s role

4.  Legal definition of Federal Records:
Federal records include all books, papers, maps,
photographs, machine-readable materials, or other
documentary materials, regardless of physical form
or characteristics made or received by an agency of
the United States Government under Federal law or in
connection with the transaction of public business
and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that
agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the
organization, functions, policies, decision,
procedures, operations, or other activities of the
Government or because of the informational value of
data in them.

5. 36 CFR Chapter XII, Subchapter B
 Part 1220 Federal records, General
 Part 1222 Creation/Maintenance
 Part 1224 Records Disposition Program
 Part 1225 Scheduling Records
 Part 1226 Implementing Disposition
 Part 1227 General Records Schedules
 Part 1235 Transfer of Records to NARA
 Part 1236 Electronic Records Management

6.  Process by which agencies request
disposition of Federal records
 All schedules must be approved by the
Archivist of the United States

7.  “is a record” does not mean “permanent”
 Retention periods are based on business
needs of agency to retain information
 Some can be very short “destroy when no
longer needed”
 Only 1-3% of records are permanent
 Transfer to NARA does not mean “open to the
public”

8.  NARA RM Page
◦ http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/
 NARA Contacts for each agency
◦ http://www.archives.gov/records-
mgmt/agency/officers-lists.html
 Records Express, Official Blog of NARA RM
◦ http://blogs.archives.gov/records-express/

9. Arian D. Ravanbakhsh
National Archives and Records Administration
301-837-2086
arian.ravanbakhsh@nara.gov