Destroying Records

The purpose of the program is to provide a controlled and systematic method for disposal of the scheduled records in accordance with the district and state requirements and guidelines.

Staff in the Records Center will monitor stored boxes until they are due for disposition. No records will be destroyed unless authorized by the three levels of command that have established by the Records Management Office.

The Records Management Office has scheduled one major destruction time each year in the Spring. However, the Records Management Center is not limited to this time of the year for records destruction.

The Records Management Office will continually monitor the retention period for all of the boxes placed in storage. As soon as a box has reached the end of its designated retention period, the Records Management Officer will disseminate a listing of records eligible for destruction to the appropriate Records Liaison requesting destruction approval.

The Records Management office has established three levels of review and signatures before records can be destroyed. This ensures that everyone is in accordance to the destruction of the designated records.

Once the records have been identified for destruction and a list has been created, the Records Management Officer will first send the list to the Campus/Department Liaisons. The list is subject for review to determine if any of the boxes need to be kept for an additional period of time. If for any reason a box should be kept for an extended amount of time, a written notification informing the Records Management Officer the reasons why. The Records Management Officer will review the request and disclose the ruling. As long as the record has met the retention date, the Records Management Officer reserves the right to decline the request.

Once the list has been reviewed, the department head shall sign each of the pages authorizing destruction. The Liaison shall immediately return the form back to the Records Management Office.

The Request for Destruction form will be forwarded the district’s attorney for review of any legal or litigation holds on any of the records. The attorney will review, sign, and return the form back to the Records Management office for the final signature from the Records Management Officer. At that point, the records can be destroyed.

Because of the FERPA and HIPPA laws, the district takes the upmost care of disposing of district records. All records authorized for destruction are disposed on the premises by district staff.

For more information, contact the Records Management office at (972) 968-6211.