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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-20 Records Retention & Disposition COUNTY OF NEWELL IN THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA BYLAW NO. 1993-20 A Bylaw of the County of Newell, in the Province of Alberta, pursuant to provisions of the Municipal Government Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. M-26, and any amendments thereto, to provide regulations and procedures for the retention and disposal of Municipal records. WHEREAS it is the desire of the Council of the County of Newell to provide for regulations with respect to the retention and disposal of records kept by the Municipality; AND WHEREAS it is the desire of the Municipality to establish the necessary authority to release Municipal records to the Provincial Archives of Alberta on either a permanent loan or retention basis; AND WHEREAS the authority for such regulations and authorities must be consistent with Federal or Provincial Statutes and regulations; NOW THEREFORE, the Council of the County of Newell duly assembled, enacts as follows: 1. TITLE a. This Bylaw may be referred to as the "RECORDS RETENTION & DISPOSITION BYLAW." 2. DEFINITIONS a. "Archival" means those records that have been determined to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation. See also PERMANENT. b. "CAO" means the Chief Administrative Officer of the County of Newell, or his designate. C. "Confidential" means any record that: i. contains personal information about an individual; ii. third party, commercial, financial, scientific, or technical information supplied either explicitly or implicitly in confidence; or iii. other sensitive information as described in the Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.A. 2000, C. F-25, as amended or replaced. d. "Council" means the Council of the County of Newell. e. "County" means the County of Newell. f. "Digital Record" means a record that is carried by an electrical conductor and requires the use of electronic equipment to be understood. g. "Disposition" means the removal of records from operational systems and should be applied to records on a systematic and routine basis, in the course of normal business Bylaw 1993-20 Page 2 activity and can include destruction or the transfer of records of enduring value to archives. No disposition action should take place without the assurance that the record is no longer required, that no work is outstanding and no litigation or investigation is current or pending which would involve relying on the record as evidence. h. "Electronic Document and Records Management System" (EDRMS) means an an automated system used to manage, protect and preserve records from creation to disposition. These systems maintain appropriate contextual information (metadata) and enable organizations to access, use and dispose of records (i.e., their retention, destruction, or transfer) in a managed, systematic and auditable way in order to ensure accountability, transparency, and meet departmental business objectives. i. "Metadata" means the structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage information resources. j. "Official Record" means a record that is required to support business operations, to document and provide evidence of business transactions, are required by legislation, protect the rights of citizens and the government, provide evidence of compliance with accountability or other business requirements, or will have some future business, legal, research, or archival value. k. "Permanent" means records having sufficient historical or other value to warrant continued preservation beyond the time they are needed for operational, legal, fiscal, and archival purposes. See also ARCHIVAL. I. "Personal Information" means personal information as that term is defined in the as described in the Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.A. 2000, C. F-25, as amended or replaced. m. "Record" means information created, received, and maintained as evidence and as an asset, in pursuit of legal obligations or in the transaction of business, stored in any manner including electronically that is in the custody and control of the County of Newell. It does not include software or mechanisms that produce records. n. "Records Coordinator" means the person in charge of maintaining the Records Classification System and organizing retention and disposition of records. o. "Retention Period" means the total length of time a record must be kept before final disposition is implemented. p. "Retention Schedule" means the timetable that identifies the retention period during which a record must be retained before disposition and is set forth in Schedule A. q. "Transitory Record" means records that have only temporary usefulness or are required only for a limited period of time, including but not limited to temporary information, duplicate documents, draft documents, publications, advertising material, and blank information media. Bylaw 1993-20 Page 3 3. GENERAL a. The official record of the County of Newell is the digital record. b. The County of Newell believes that its records and information are critical, valuable resources and that these resources should be protected, preserved, and safeguarded from unauthorized use. C. The Records Coordinator will work with departments to ensure compliance with Records & Information Management procedures. d. The Records Coordinator will maintain an accurate index of all corporate records, including those that have been destroyed, those that have been referred to the Provincial Archives, and those that are held at other archival centers. e. The CAO will ensure that the bylaws and minutes of Council meetings and all other records are kept safe as per the Municipal Government Act. f. The CAO will ensure that accurate records and accounts are kept of the financial affairs of the County. g. If an individual's personal information will be used by the County of Newell to make a decision that directly affects the individual, the personal information must be retained for at least one year after using it. 4. RECORDS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM/RETENTION & DISPOSITION SCHEDULE a. The Records Coordinator maintains the Records Classification System/Retention & Disposition Schedule (Schedule A). Schedule A does not form a part of this bylaw but is attached to this bylaw for reference purposes. b. A current version of Schedule A will be retained at all times in the County of Newell's records system. C. The Records Classification System/Retention & Disposition Schedule ensures that records are filed consistently to allow for ease of retrieval, maintained for the time required to meet their operational, legal, fiscal, and archival requirements, and disposed of in a timely manner when no longer needed. d. Staff members are required to follow the schedules outlined in the Records Classification System/Retention & Disposition Schedule (Schedule A). e. Where it is provided in this Bylaw and in Records Classification System/Retention & Disposition Schedule (Schedule A), records of the County shall be: i. DESTROYED Such records, in consultation with the appropriate department, shall be destroyed without ANY copy thereof being retained. ii. PERMANENT Such original records shall be permanently retained, preserved, and never Bylaw 1993-20 Page 4 destroyed, except where the originals have been recorded in a format that allows for copies of the originals to be made. iii. ARCHIVED Such records shall be released either to the Provincial Archives or other local archives upon decision and direction of Council. A copy of the transferred records index shall be permanently retained on file. 5. ARCHIVES/INACTIVE STORAGE a. When records are identified as inactive, they will be stored in a secure, accessible, and controlled manner until all operational, legal, fiscal, or archival requirements have been fulfilled. b. The department that creates and manages the records is responsible for transferring records to the vault, when necessary. C. A Records Inventory Form (Schedule B) must be completed and the inactive records must be packed in clearly labelled boxes prior to their transfer to inactive storage. 6. RECORDS DISPOSITION a. When records have met their retention requirements in accordance with the Records Classification System/Retention & Disposition Schedule (Schedule A), the disposition process will be implemented. This requires a completed and signed Destruction Notice (Schedule C). b. Records that are scheduled for destruction that are responsive to a current, ongoing, or impending FOIP request must be retained for a period of one (1) year after the FOIP request file has been closed. C. The Records Coordinator will ensure that records destined for disposition are handled in an appropriate, timely, and secure manner to ensure that confidential information is protected. d. Destruction of records shall be carried out in the presence of a witness. This applies to both physical and electronic records. e. Upon destruction of the records, both the person destroying the records and the witness shall sign the Destruction Notice (Schedule C). The Records Coordinator is responsible for keeping the completed Destruction Notices. f. Transitory records can be disposed of at any time when they no longer serve any valid purpose. All transitory records are authorized to be routinely destroyed without requiring the completed Destruction Notice (Schedule C). Transitory records containing potentially confidential information shall be disposed of in a manner such that any confidential information is obliterated. g. The CAO shall always have the discretion to retain records longer than the period provided for in this Bylaw and shall do so where the CAO deems it appropriate and shall do so where the CAO has received an indication that there is or may be any Bylaw 1993-20 Page 5 litigation involving any of the said records. Such decisions to retain records longer than the period provided for herein shall be recorded in the records retention index. h. The CAO may authorize the destruction of original documents in accordance with Schedule A provided that the original has been recorded in an Electronic Docment and Records Management System (EDRMS) or on another system that will enable copies of the original to be made. 7. SEVERABILITY a. It is the intention of Council that each separate provision of this Bylaw shall be deemed independent of all other provisions herein and it is the further intention of Council that if any provision of this Bylaw is declared invalid, all other provisions hereof shall remain valid and enforceable. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE a. This Bylaw comes into effect on the final date of passing and rescinds Bylaw 1841-15. May 21, 2020 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR ANNE MARIE PHILIPSEN that Bylaw 1993-20 receive FIRST reading. MOTION CARRIED May 21, 2020 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR LIONEL JUSS that Bylaw 1993-20 receive SECOND reading. MOTION CARRIED May 21, 2020 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR ELLEN UNRUH that consent be given for Bylaw 1993-20 to receive third reading this 21 st day of May, 2020. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY May 21, 2020 MOVED BY COUNCILLOR HUBY KALLEN that Bylaw 1993-20 receive THIRD and FINAL reading. MOTION CARRIED `-4 " `� Reeve—Molly Douglass fl--- Chief Administrative Officer—Kevin Stephenson Bylaw 1993-20 Page 6 SCHEDULE A County of Newell RECORDS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM/RETENTION & DISPOSITION SCHEDULE Schedule A does not form a part of this bylaw but is attached to this bylaw for reference purposes. It is accessible in the County's Laserfiche repository in the following Folder: Newell8\Records & Information Management\ Bylaw 1993-20 Schedule A - Classification Structure-Retention & Disposition Schedule Bylaw 1993-20 Page 7 SCHEDULE B County of Newell RECORDS INVENTORY A Laserfiche Form has been created: https://laserfiche.countyof newel 1.ab.ca/Forms/Records Inventor y All Records Inventory Forms are to be submitted electronically using the Laserfiche form. A blank form has been included on the following pages for reference. 1 County of Newell RECORDS INVENTORY Responsible Department: Position responsible for the records: Disposition Authority: Completed by: Date: Records Series Title(s) (include alternate titles): Purpose of Record: Filing Method:  Alphabetic  Numeric  Chronological  Roll No  Employee ID  Equipment ID  Job No  Permit No  Work Order No  Asset ID  Feature ID  Other Document Types:  Original  Duplicate  Backups  Can copies be recreated? Description of Contents - Document Source Internal (Created by this organization) - External – (Created outside this organization) - Integrations (with other software) - Document Source Type:  Electronic  Paper Volume How many files are in this Record Series? File Size of electronic documents List of Files (attach a list of files if available) Record Characteristics:  Vital  Confidential  Restricted  Important  Useful  Public Date Range: Tax Requirement: Legal Requirement: Operational Requirement: Historical/Archival Value?  YES  NO  YES  NO  YES  NO  YES  NO Legislation (List any legislation that requires the creation or retention of a records series). Legislation: Retention Period: Electronic:  Active Record  Semi-Active Record  Inactive Record: Final Disposition – Electronic  Destroy  Archive (Local)  Archive (Off-Site) 2 Paper  Active Record  Semi-Active Record  Inactive Record: Final Disposition – Paper  Destroy  Archive (Local)  Archive (Off-site) Cutoff Instruction A cutoff instruction defines when a record folder or record can become eligible to enter retention. Cycle definitions are used by Time and Time + Event cutoff instructions to determine cutoff eligibility, as well as to determine vital record review cycles.)  Time (Records become eligible for cutoff based on both cycle definition & filing date)  Event (Records become eligible for cutoff based on one or more events)  Time + Event (Records become eligible for cutoff based on a cycle definition and an event date)  Superseded (Records become eligible for cutoff based on whether the record has been superseded)  Disposition Action (Records become eligible for cutoff based on whether the record has a particular type of document relationship to another record and a particular records management action is performed on the document that the record is linked to.  Interval Cutoff Instruction (Records become eligible for cutoff once a certain number of months have passed; distinct from Time cutoff instruction because Time cutoff instructions group records by time period whereas Interval cutoff instructions are triggered on an individual record folder.) Cycle - Event - Interval - Legal or Security Restrictions: Type of Storage Equipment (e.g. electronic, filing cabinet, boxes, shelved, flat): Filing Location Laserfiche - Network Drive - Physical - File Room Locations - Other - Scanning Do the records need to be scanned?  YES  NO Have the records been scanned?  YES  NO  PARTIAL Are there any issues with scanning? : Anticipated date of scanning completion: 3 Destroy the hard copy after scanning? (Hard copies will automatically be held for 1 year)  YES  NO Other Questions: Who uses these records? - Is there more than one version of a record?  Yes – multiple copies  Yes – one copy under version control  NO Are Older copies of data kept?  YES  NO How often are these records added to? Are there any gaps in the records? Are the records fragmented? - (Parts of records in more than one location) –  YES  NO How often are these records referenced? - Notes Classification Structure Information & Laserfiche (to be completed by Records Management Staff). Template Name - Category - Type - Project/Program Have the records been imported into Laserfiche?  YES  NO  PARTIAL Have templates been applied to documents imported into Laserfiche?  YES  NO  PARTIAL Approval  Approved  Rejected Approved by: Rejected by: Reason for Rejection - Updated: 2023-09-25 Bylaw 1993-20 Page 11 SCHEDULE C County of Newell DESTRUCTION NOTICE A Laserfiche Form has been created: https://laserfiche.countyof newel 1.ab.ca/Forms/Destruction Notice All Destruction Notice Forms are to be submitted electronically using the Laserfiche form. A blank form has been included on the following pages for reference. Bylaw 1993-20 Page 12 County of Newell DESTRUCTION NOTICE Date: Responsible Department: Disposition Authority: Completed by: The following records are eligible for destruction under the County of Newell Retention & Disposition Schedule (Bylaw 1993-20 - Schedule A) ❑ Records may be destroyed ❑ Records to be held Reason for hold: ❑ Litigation (pending) ❑ Other: Next review date: Template/Category/Type Description Date Span of Records Method(s) of Destruction: ❑ Confidential Shredding ❑ Delete Electronic File (network drive, e-mails) ❑ Delete Electronic Files (Laserfiche) APPROVALS &CERTIFICATIONS No records will be destroyed unless the Department Manager has signed this authorization. I hereby certify that for the above records, all provincial and federal audits have been completed, and all audit reports have been accepted and resolved, and further that no legal actions are pending to which these records may be pertinent. I hereby give final approval to destroy the above destroyed records. Department Manager: Date: DESTRUCTION VERIFICATION I hereby certify that the above described records will be destroyed as of: Print Name Signature Date Print Name Signature Date Updated: 2020-05-14