Government Command Center 16 items
Public Records Retention & Legal Hold Checklist
Ensures government records are retained, dispositioned, and preserved in accordance with approved retention schedules and litigation-hold obligations.
State Records Retention ScheduleFRCPLocal Government Records Act
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Retention Schedule Governance
- Does the entity operate under a records retention schedule approved by the state archives/records commission? *
- Is a designated records management officer (RMO) appointed and on file with the state? *
- Are all record series inventoried and mapped to a retention period? *
Authorized Disposition
- Is records destruction performed only after the retention period expires and per an authorized destruction process? *
- Is a certificate of destruction / disposition log maintained? *
- Are permanent and archival records excluded from destruction and preserved indefinitely? *
Electronic Records & Email
- Are email and electronic records retained according to content-based retention rather than storage limits? *
- Are text messages and messaging-app communications about public business captured and retained? *
- Are metadata and file authenticity preserved for electronic records of long-term value? *
Legal Hold / Litigation Preservation
- Is a documented legal hold process triggered when litigation is reasonably anticipated? *
- Are legal-hold notices issued in writing to all custodians of potentially relevant records? *
- Is automatic deletion/purging suspended for records subject to a legal hold? *
- Are legal holds tracked, periodically reissued, and released only by counsel? *
Access & Security
- Are records stored with appropriate physical and cyber safeguards against loss or unauthorized access? *
- Is a disaster-recovery / vital-records protection plan in place for essential records? *
- Is access to confidential records restricted based on role and applicable confidentiality laws? *
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