SCHEDULE GR: RECORDS COMMON TO ALL GOVERNMENTS

PART 1: ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS

SECTION 1-1: RECORDS OF GOVERNING BODIES

RETENTION NOTE: SCOPE OF SECTION – The retention periods established in this section also apply to the records of subsidiary boards, bureaus, commissions, or committees established by the governing body of a local government that have rulemaking or quasi-judicial authority over any activity or program of the government or that were established by ordinance, order, or resolution for the purposes of advising the governing body or a subsidiary body on policy. Consequently, the use of the term “governing body” in a records description includes the corresponding records of these subsidiary bodies.

1000-01 AGENDAS

a) Open meetings. RETENTION: 2 years.

b) Closed sessions. RETENTION: 2 years. [By law – Government Code, Section 551.104(a).]

1000-02 DEDICATIONS. RETENTION: PERMANENT.

1000-03 MINUTES (the use of the term audio tape in (c) - (e) includes videotapes with sound).

a) Written minutes. RETENTION: PERMANENT.

b) Notes taken during meetings from which written minutes are prepared. RETENTION; 90 days after approval of minutes by the governing body. (Exempt from destruction request requirement)

c) Audio-tapes of open meetings, except as described in (d), for which written minutes are not prepared. RETENTION: PERMANENT.

d) Audio-tapes of workshop sessions of governing bodies in which votes are not made and written minutes are not required by law to be taken. RETENTION: 2 years.

e) Audio-tapes of open meetings for which written minutes are prepared. RETENTION: 90 days after approval of minutes by the governing body. (Exempt from destruction request requirement)

f) Audio-tapes of closed meetings. RETENTION: 2 years. [By law – Government Code, Section 551.104(a).]

g) Supporting documentation – One copy of each document of any type submitted to a meeting of a governing body for consideration, approval, or other action, if such action is reflected in the minutes of the meeting. RETENTION: 2 years.

RETENTION NOTES: a) The retention periods for many documents submitted to a governing body for action are established elsewhere in this or other commission schedules and are often longer than the 2-year retention period for supporting documentation set here. The 2-year retention requirement does not override a longer retention requirement set elsewhere, but rather is meant to ensure that all documents presented for action by a governing body are retained at least two years. This schedule does not require that supporting documentation be maintained together, but the retention by the clerk or secretary to the governing body of one set of the documents submitted at each meeting (often called “council packets” in municipalities) for two years would ensure satisfaction of the minimum retention requirement. Clerks or secretaries to governing bodies should exercise caution in disposing of supporting documentation to avoid destruction of the record copy of a document for which they are the custodian before the expiration of its retention period.

b) Review before disposal; some supporting documentation, not already required to be maintained permanently elsewhere in this or other commission schedules, may merit permanent retention for historical reasons.

1000-04 OPEN MEETING NOTICES. RETENTION: 2 years.

1000-05 ORDINANCES, ORDERS, RESOLUTIONS (including those that have been repealed, revoked, or amended). RETENTION: PERMANENT.

1000-06 PETITIONS – Petitions from the public to the governing body or subsidiary boards or commissions of a local government. RETENTION: Consideration of the petition + 2 years.

Retention Note: Does not include petitions noted elsewhere in this or other commission schedules.