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Home My Public Portal AboutADM-114_Records Management Policy_Effective 05-26-2020 City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 1 of 10 Approved by: Records Management Policy Section 1.0: Purpose The City of Lebanon provides for efficient, economical and effective controls over the creation, distribution, organization, maintenance, use, access and disposition of all City records – regardless of form. The City Clerk is responsible for the development and implementation of a records management program that will integrate procedures, retention schedules and best practices for the management of records in accordance with the requirements proscribed by the laws of the State of New Hampshire, City Charter, and the Lebanon Municipal Records Board. Section 2.0: Scope This policy applies to all departments and officials of the City. Section 3.0: Definitions Records- The City of Lebanon utilizes the definition for records as defined in State of New Hampshire RSA 91-A:1-a - “ ‘Governmental records’ means any information created, accepted, or obtained by, or on behalf of, any public body, or a quorum or majority thereof, or any public agency in furtherance of its official function. Without limiting the foregoing, the term ‘governmental records’ includes any written communication or other information, whether in paper, electronic, or other physical form, received by a quorum or majority of a public body in furtherance of its official function, whether at a meeting or outside a meeting of the body. The term ‘governmental records’ shall also include the term ‘public records.’” Records further defined in RSA 33-A:1, IV include: “Municipal records” means all municipal records, reports, minutes, tax records, ledgers, journals, checks, bills, receipts, warrants, payrolls, deeds and any other written or computerized materials that may be designated by the Municipal Records Board.” Electronic Records – In addition to the reference to electronic records in RSA 91-A:1-a and RSA 33-A:5-a,II, electronic records include digital photographs, audios and videos. City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 2 of 10 Approved by: City Records Manager – The City Clerk shall serve as the lead official regarding records management. Records Coordinator – Each department shall designate a Records Coordinator. Lebanon Municipal Records Board – As authorized and established by RSA 33-A:3 shall constitute the Deputy City Manager, City Clerk, Treasurer, Chief Assessor and the Tax Collector. Records Retention Schedules – Refers to the State of NH Records Retention schedule as provided in RSA 33-A or other applicable state statute or federal regulation and any retention schedules adopted by the Lebanon Municipal Records Board. Section 4.0: Policy Detail Designation of Municipal Records Board by RSA 33-A:3 and City Records Manager by the City Manager Based on State of New Hampshire Statute and the City Charter, the City Clerk is responsible for City records. Each department head is responsible for the records that their respective department creates and/or receives. Each department head may designate a staff member (or more if necessary) to serve as the Records Coordinator to implement the records management program in the department. Creation and Use of the City Retention Schedule The City Records Manager prepares the City General Retention Schedule (records common to most departments) for publication and use following procedures stated in NH RSA 33-A. Department Heads and Records Coordinators provide assistance to the City Records Manager during the development of Department Operational Retention Schedules for the records that are unique to departments.  Departments are responsible for monitoring and assisting with the update/revisions of the Department Operational Retention Schedule to City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 3 of 10 Approved by: ensure that the schedule accurately reflects the records created and maintained by the department.  Before records can be destroyed, the records must exist on an approved Retention Schedule and must follow destruction processes set by the Lebanon Municipal Records Board.  The Retention Schedules and all changes to the schedules are reviewed and approved by the Lebanon Municipal Records Board and the City Attorney (if necessary) prior to the schedule being used by departments. Development and Use of Records Management Policy and Procedures The policy and procedure documents are designed to enable the City Clerk to fulfill the responsibilities outlined by statute, regulation and charter. The policy defines the program and assigns the responsibilities and authorities to administer the program. The procedures outline the roles, responsibilities and actions required to implement the program. Development of Department Operational and Specific Series Schedules The Lebanon Municipal Records Board is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the City General Retention Schedule. The City Records Manager assists Department Heads and Records Coordinators in their efforts to inventory department operational records that do not appear on the City General Retention Schedule. The Records Coordinator, with assistance from the City Records Manager creates Department Operational Schedules and submits the schedules to the Department Head for approval. Regardless of whether a record is included on the City General Retention Schedule or on a Department Operational Schedule, the record and the recommended retention will be reviewed and approved by the City Attorney if deemed necessary by the Lebanon Municipal Records Board. Following his/her review and approval, the schedules and/or updates are forwarded to the Lebanon Municipal Records Board. Following approval, the schedules are available for City use. Destruction of Records under the Retention Schedule Following the approval of the City of Lebanon General Retention Schedule and supplemental Department Operational Schedules, the schedules shall be implemented by departments. Use of the schedules is governed by the procedures developed to administer the records management program. City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 4 of 10 Approved by: Prior to the destruction of a record under an approved retention schedule, a signed authorization must be obtained from a Department Head or other designated individual. If the destruction occurs in the department, the department is responsible for documenting its destruction. When records that are scheduled for destruction reside in the City’s archives, a Destruction Authorization Form is submitted to the Department Head for review and approval. The City Records Manager completes the Certificate of Destruction Form to document the destruction of records maintained in the City’s archives. Departments complete the Department Destruction Form to document the destruction of records that occur within the department. The detailed steps to destroy records are in the procedures entitled Destruction of Records Maintained in Departments and Destruction of Records Maintained in the City’s archives. Destruction of Unscheduled Records Destruction of City government records can occur only after the records have been scheduled and approved on the City retention schedules and after they have met their retention requirements. Suspension of Records Destruction – Pending Litigation, Government Investigation or Audit The Department Head and the Records Coordinator must review all records prior to destruction to ensure that pending actions (litigation, government investigation or audit) will not be affected by the destruction. If a department has been notified that litigation, government investigation or audit is imminent or pending all destruction must be suspended for records involved with the action. Departments should contact the City Attorney representative to clarify the specific records involved in an action to ensure that all record production and discovery obligations can be met. In cases where records affected by pending litigation, government investigation or audit are eligible for destruction and are maintained in the City’s archives, the notice of the pending action must be indicated on the Destruction Authorization Form by the Department Head. The notice on the form will provide sufficient notice to the City’s records management staff to suspend the destruction of the records affected by the action. Section 5.0: Procedures City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 5 of 10 Approved by: Governance and Responsibilities City Clerk – As the principle agent responsible for records of the City, the City Clerk:  Develops, sponsors and provides management oversight of the Records Management Program for citywide implementation.  Secures funding to implement and support the on-going functions of the program.  Chairs the Lebanon Municipal Records Board and ensures representatives are appointed to serve on the Board as outlined in NH RSA 33-A:4-a.  Provides guidance and oversight in the development of an effective communications strategy to promote the Program.  Encourages ongoing adherence to the program by all City staff, elected and appointed officials. City Records Manager - the City Clerk is the designated City Records Manager– In addition to other duties assigned in this policy, the City Records Manager:  Identifies, researches and documents record retention schedules, disposition policies, procedures and best practices.  Develops procedures to ensure permanent preservation of historically valuable records in accordance with New Hampshire Preservation guidelines.  Provides records management advice and assistance to City departments through the development and implementation of the policy, procedures and training programs.  Monitors records retention schedules and administrative rules issued by the State of New Hampshire and provides documentation as required according to statute/rules.  Designs and implements a communications program to disseminate information concerning State laws, administrative rules and relevant major litigation that may affect the management of City records. Municipal Records Board  Reviews the retention schedules periodically.  Working with Department Heads and appropriate staff members, establishes retention schedules for those City documents not listed under RSA 33-A.  Provides positive support for the program and the use of the retention schedules by staff and others. City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 6 of 10 Approved by:  Helps review and clarify records management policy and provides insight and expertise to address records issues. Department Heads – As the person responsible for department records, each department head:  Cooperates with the City Clerk in carrying out the policy and procedures established for the City of Lebanon.  Assigns department records coordinator(s) to represent the department in activities related to the management of records.  Ensures that transactions of City business are properly documented (including services, programs and duties for which the department head and his/her staff are responsible).  Reviews and signs destruction authorization forms for records that have met the retention requirements.  Ensures that department staff follow the retention, storage and destruction requirements outlined in the Records Management Policy and as determined by the Lebanon Municipal Records Board. Records Coordinators- As the individual designated to coordinate records activities for a department, the Records Coordinator:  Assists the City Clerk in the review and migration of department schedules and associated records to the City’s records management system.  Conducts or supervises the creation of record inventories for the department for the creation of Department Operational Retention Schedules that capture records that are unique to the department.  Develop and implement filing systems to manage large volumes or groupings of records.  Assists in the review of records that are identified for destruction maintained in the department and the City’s archives.  Creates and maintains the documentation necessary to implement the program.  Coordinates and implements the policy and procedures of the records management program for the department.  Disseminates information to department staff concerning the program. Location of Public Records – All City records that are open to the Public will be housed in the “External” folder in the Laserfiche Records Management System. City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 7 of 10 Approved by: Folder Setup – For the Laserfiche System, folder levels for all Departments should not exceed 5 levels (levels are referenced as sub-folders). See attached for example. Note: the number of files within each folder is not restricted, just the number of folder levels. Naming Convention – There shall be a City-wide consistent file naming convention for records housed in the Laserfiche Records Management System. File names should be kept as close to 35 characters or under whenever possible. Files shall be named in the following format(s): a) For all files relating to a specific parcel of property the tax map and lot number need to appear first: MAP###-LOT###-PLOT#####_yyyy-mm- dd_Dept_doctype_xxxx (any other identifier you need that will assist with a search of the document) Example: for an Assessing property record for tax map/lot 092- 100 recently created the file name would be. (listing the street name/address is optional). 092-100-00300_2019-12-04_ASE_45ForrestAve For a building permit for the same property: 092-100-00300_2019-12-05_PLN_BP2020-348_Owner Name For a land use application (in this case Planning Board): 092-100-00300_2019-12-05_PLN_PB2020-15- SPR_Applicant Name b) For all other general documents that do not relate to a specific parcel of property use the following – always put a date first: yyyy-mm-dd_Dept_docdesc City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 8 of 10 Approved by: c) For Board/Committee agendas/minutes, etc: yyyy-mm-dd_Boardname_doctype Examples for City Council: 2019-12-04_CityCouncil_agenda 2019-12-04_CityCouncil_minutes 2019-12-04_CityCouncil_audio d) CIP Project documents: For example, the file names for CIP project documents will need to begin with the project# (which will need to be assigned by the Planning Office). CIPyyyy-projectnumber_Dept_project name. Sample name for City Hall Renovations Project would be: CIP2020-01_DPW_CityHallRenovation The file names for CIP financial records will need to begin with related CIP account number. xxxx-xxxx-xx-xxxx_ProjectName_VendorName Here is an example for a CIP project document related to the West Lebanon Library: 1455-4104-01-0007_WLEBLIB_Advanced Geomatics Design LLC e) For Older Records in Basement being scanned: Unless otherwise identified, all property type records in the basement will be scanned with file names as follows: City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 9 of 10 Approved by: Map-Lot__permit#_Doctype_history (the word history identifies that these are records from the basement that pre-date the implementation of the RMS System). Example for building permit files: 092-100_####-###_Permit_history For Land Use Files (Again using Planning Board as an example): 092-100_PB2020-15-SPR_History Recognizing the variety of files created by all City Departments, there may occasionally be a need to utilize a different naming convention for a particular set of individual departmental files. In this instance, the Departmental Records Coordinator shall submit a request to the City Records Manager (City Clerk) to deviate from the approved naming convention with an explanation of the reason for the deviation. The City Records Manager will then make a determination whether to approve the request with consultation from the Lebanon Municipal Records Board if necessary. Section 6.0: References (Charter/Code/State Statues)  NH RSA 91-A.  NH RSA 33-A  City Charter, Section C419:67 Public Records.  Lebanon Municipal Records Board.  Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Section 7.0: Policy & Procedure Revision History Section Revisions Date Original Adoption Originally Created 5/26/20 Amendment Amendment Amendment City of Lebanon New Hampshire ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES Policy Number Effective Date Last Revision Page No. ADM-114 5/26/20 Page 10 of 10 Approved by: 5 FOLDER LEVEL EXAMPLE: