City Council
MEETING DATE: 7/22/2015
TITLE:
Title
Records Retention Schedule Update
End
FROM:
Tracey Martinez, CMC
Deputy City Clerk
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council approve Resolutions updating the Records Retention Schedule and authorizing a procedure for the destruction of records in accordance with the retention schedule
Body
BACKGROUND:
The California Public Records Act, Government Code Section 6250 et. seq. details which records in the City's custody are available to the public for inspection. The rule is all records are available to the public unless specifically excluded by statute. Maintenance of numerous records is expensive, slows document retrieval, and is not necessary after a certain period of time for the effective and efficient operation of the government of the City of Cathedral City. Section 34090 of the Government Code provides a procedure whereby any City record which has served its purpose and is no longer required may be destroyed. The State of California has adopted guidelines for retention periods for various government records to assist local governmental agencies in establishing appropriate records retention schedules which comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
Cathedral City has maintained a thorough Records Retention Schedule, approved by the City Council, which establishes mandatory guidelines with respect to the destruction of records. The schedule is based on the guidelines published by the Secretary of State but also includes references to numerous other State and Federal laws and regulations, as well as City policies. Use of the Schedule allows the City to be consistent in its records maintenance, as well as to avoid the risk of potential litigation associated with haphazard record keeping and destruction policies.
DISCUSSION:
Due to periodic changes in the law, it is necessary to occasionally update the Records Retention Sched...
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