TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Meg Ragan, Chief Technology Officer - Information Technology Services
REPORT BY: Elena Guzmán, Staff Services Analyst II
SUBJECT: Resolution approving revisions and additions to County’s Record Retention Schedules; All County, Assessor, Clerk of the Board, County Counsel, Public Defender, Public Works - Surveyor, Sheriff, and a new Retention Schedule for Public Works - Engineering.
RECOMMENDATION
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Adopt a Resolution approving revisions to the All-County, Assessor, Clerk of the Board, County Counsel, Public Defender, Public Works - Surveyor, Sheriff retention schedules in Section 40 of the County Policy Manual effective August 20, 2024, and the introduction of a new retention schedule for Public Works - Engineering. (No Fiscal Impact)
[4/5 vote required]
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BACKGROUND
Pursuant to Section 26202 of the Government Code of the State of California (Section 26202), record retention schedules are used by public entities across the State of California and are an appropriate mechanism for the Board to proactively make the determination when various categories of records will no longer be necessary or required for County purposes. Under Section 26202, the Board may, by a four-fifths vote, authorize the destruction of records prepared or received pursuant to State or Federal statute where those records have been maintained for the required period of time and the Board has determined retention of those records is no longer necessary or required for County purposes.
Records Management, the County’s records/archival and mail processing center (Records Center), use County storage space but also work with PRO-file, a business records management company, to store and archive records offsite. Records identified as historical by the departments are permanently archived and not subject to purging.
In order to ensure departments can continue transferring records for storage to the Records Center, it is necessary to regularly purge records that have expired retention periods. These Board-approved retention schedules provide the mechanism to purge records without having to return the Board each time; thereby improving records management efficiency.
Today’s recommended action is the adoption of a resolution approving revisions to the All-County, Assessor, Clerk of the Board, County Counsel, Public Defender, Public Works - Surveyor, and Sheriff retention schedules, and the introduction of a new retention schedule for Public Works - Engineering. These retention schedules replace and supplement those previously adopted by the Board and will be maintained with Section 40 of the County Policy Manual. Maintaining the retention schedules with the policy will ensure all County departments are setting retention schedules and the Records Center is purging accordingly.
The County Counsel’s Office has reviewed each retention schedule presented to the Board for consistency with applicable laws. Changes are reflected in the “redline” attachments and are summarized below:
• The “All-County” retention schedule (Exhibit “A”) introduces a subsection for Committee, Commission & Board records. These edits are consistent with the 2024 revision to Part 1: Section 8 of the Napa County Board of Supervisors Policy Manual which made liaison departments responsible for certain records of the boards and commissions to which they are assigned. Records related to boards and commissions were part of the Clerk of the Board’s retention schedule and have been moved to the “All-County” schedule; the “Clerk of the Board” retention schedule (Exhibit “C”) has been revised accordingly. The Clerk of the Board is still responsible for records of the Board of Supervisors and all other boards and commissions where the Board sits as the governing body.
• The “Assessor” retention schedule (Exhibit “B”) introduces new categories of records which the Assessor’s Office wishes to ensure are retained either indefinitely or for seven (7) years consistent with California Revenue and Taxation Code Section 465.
• The “County Counsel” retention schedule (Exhibit “D”) introduces “Settlement Agreements” as a new category of records. Historically, settlement agreements have been treated as part of case files, but the County Counsel’s Office wishes to ensure that settlement agreements are retained indefinitely.
• Retention periods for criminal case files, of both the Conflict Public Defender (listed under a subsection of the “County Counsel” retention schedule) and the Public Defender (listed in the “Public Defender” retention schedule [Exhibit “E”]), have been extended consistent with California State Bar Formal Opinion Interim No. 19-004 which addresses lawyers' ethical obligations to retain client files in criminal matters.
• The “Public Works - Surveying” retention schedule (Exhibit “F”) expands on explanations of existing records categories to provide greater clarity and adds new categories of records which the Surveyor wishes to ensure are retained indefinitely.
• The “Sheriff” retention schedule (Exhibit “G”) expands on explanations of existing records categories to provide greater clarity and extends the amount of time two existing categories of records are retained.
• The “Public Works - Engineering” retention schedule (Exhibit “H”) is new. Public Works - Engineering worked with ITS and County Counsel to identify retention periods for its records that are suitable from an operational standpoint and that are also legally sufficient.
ITS and County Counsel will continue working with other County departments to keep retention schedules current and will return to the Board for approval of updated retention schedules as necessary.
Requested Actions: Adopt a Resolution approving revisions to All-County, Assessor, Clerk of the Board, County Counsel, Public Defender, Public Works - Surveyor, and Sheriff retention schedules, and the introduction of a Public Works - Engineering retention schedule.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.