Records Management FAQs

Records Center and Archives

Who can use the Records Center (Records Management Services)?
Maine State Agencies and the Legislature — The State Records Center (RC) stores records for Maine State agencies once they have met their in-agency retention. The records must be listed on an approved records retention schedule.

What is the difference between the State Records Center and the State Archives?
They are at separate locations and have separate purposes.

The Records Center provides off-site storage to state agencies — the agencies retain legal custody until the time the records meet their retention period, at which time a notice is sent for the records to be destroyed. When records have met agency retention requirements and are designated "Archival," agencies transfer legal custody of the record to the State Archives for historical preservation and public research.

Confidential records should not be deemed as "Archival" for the purposes of this agency. If an agency needs to retain confidential records permanently, they should be kept within the agency, the confidential information should be redacted or clearly labeled and separated or the agency should evaluate the records to see if there is a release date per statute.

According to Title 5, Chapter 6, all records transferred to the Maine State Archives are available for public examination after 75 years.

Who has access to our agency records?
All records created or maintained by state agencies are the property of the State of Maine and the public that paid for their creation. However, the agency that creates or maintains the records is the legal custodian of the records.

Records transferred to the Records Center remain in the legal custody of the agency of origin. This means that the Records Center only takes physical custody of the records.

The Records Center is responsible for protecting the records from unauthorized access, damage, and deterioration. Both legal control and control of access to the records is retained by the agency until the records are either transferred to the Archives or destroyed. The Records Center will not release records to another agency or to the public. Only agency card holders have access.

Where do I get boxes for storage at the Records Center or Archives?
Boxes can be ordered from WB Mason (Paige Company #801 Archive Boxes - PAIG801). For archival records we recommend ordering boxes that are designed for permanent storage from other vendors, such as Gaylord or Hollinger. For more information contact Archives Services.

How do I get records out of my office?
First, be sure the records are on an approved records retention schedule and have reached their in agency retention, but not their disposition date. Place the records in order in Records Center boxes and complete appropriate transmittal form. Include a packing list and mark the boxes appropriately (box number, first and last file date). Contact the Records Center for records with a final disposition of destroy or Archives Services for records with a final disposition of archival. See our Transferring Records page for complete information.

How do I know when to send records to the Records Center?
Know your agency schedules. First, be certain the records are on an approved schedule. If not, a new schedule will need to be written.

We accept closed records. (Those records which have fulfilled the immediate business needs to the agency.) Any records coming to the RC should be closed files.

Per schedule, make sure the records have served any agency retention time, the schedule is written with an existing Records Center retention, and the records have not already exceeded the total retention time. Otherwise, it is likely records are already due for destruction.

How quickly can I get a file?
An agency card holder can request retrieval of their agency's records from the Records Center on any Maine State working day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone, email, or written requests will be mailed to the requesting agency or may be picked up (normally within 24 hours — IF correct and complete referencing information has been received).

Is our office notified before records are destroyed?
Yes! Notices of disposition to destroy records are sent to the Agency Records Officer to obtain a signature from the originating department authorizing their destruction. This is required before the Records Center disposes of any records. This process can be delayed if justification is given for documenting legal, audit, or program need.

Records Management Process

How do I become an Agency Records Officer?
Review this within your agency. Your Commissioner or head of each department should appoint Records Officers. See our Records Officer page for complete details.

How do I find out what our agency schedules are?
You can find the Schedules listed on the Agency Schedules page or can request a copy by contacting Records Management.

How do I update my Schedules?
It would be advisable to first contact Records Management for consultation. Any schedule changes (including retention changes, description updates, series additions, or deletions) would be required to be submitted on the Application for Records Retention Schedule, marking as an amendment with justification for any changes.

What is the consequence for holding documents longer than the prescribed retention period?
Keeping documents longer than needed take up space that could be used for other material that has just begun its retention period. If it is digital material, you are paying for server storage on "expired" material. It is not good practice and leads to poor management of an agency’s records. All records in existence must be presented when and if they are ever requested. If a record still exists, an agency must produce it.

Is there any recording of deleted documents that needs to be made when our office completes a deletion of records?
All records must be on an approved Records Schedule and the records must meet their retentions for the agency to destroy them. For those records which have been transferred to the State Records Center, disposition notices are retained permanently.

Agencies are responsible for keeping disposition information for any records retained/destroyed in-agency. You are not required to send agency disposition forms to Archives.

What about draft documents that undergo several revisions? (This includes paper and/or email)
The agency should have a policy related to any drafts or working documents. Before destroying any draft that is in question, consult with your agency Records Officer.

Draft documents or working papers that are circulated, propose or evaluate high-level policies or decisions and provide unique information that contributes to the understanding of major decisions of the agency should be preserved permanently.

• Other drafts circulated for comment, which demonstrate significant revisions in the view of the author, should be scheduled with the final product.
• Drafts with minor “word-smithing” do not need to be retained. Most often, uncirculated drafts may also be destroyed at will by the author.

See the Advice Bulletin on Working Documents and Drafts for further information.

Email Retention

(Employees should refer to General Schedule 13, State Agency Correspondence, for further guidance.)

Is everything on my computer a public record?
Anything that is stored on a State of Maine computer is a public record legally speaking unless a privacy statute protects all or part of it from disclosure.

Do I have to manage incoming and outgoing email as records?
Yes, both sender and recipient of email messages have the responsibility to document their activities and those of their organizations. Both sender and recipient have to determine whether a particular email message is a necessary part of that documentation.

If there are several people attached to a particular email, who is actually responsible to retain?
The person who started the email officially started the "record copy" which is considered the original. The only records that should be retained are those that are made or received in connection with the transaction of official government business; and maintained as evidence of the agency's functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, and other activities; or because of informational value. 

There are often many more copies, because it is so easy to "cc" others and to forward messages. Generally, the person who originates the message holds the record copy, which is the one that must be kept for the full retention period. Those who receive other copies should delete them as soon as they have served their purpose. However, if the recipient is required to do something after receiving the message that may mean an additional record copy has been created.

Example #1: Your boss assigns work to you by sending you an email. You will be held responsible for completing the assignment, so reading this email and then following its instructions is part of your job. You must therefore treat it as an official record.

Example #2: The Governor's Office sends out an email reminding all employees to use public transportation whenever possible. This message has only one record copy, held by the person whose job it was to send it. Everyone else can and should delete the message after reading it.

If each employee is required to maintain their own email records, will there be sanctions against the employee who fails to maintain their records properly, and if so, to what extent? 
There aren't sanctions in place if an employee fails to maintain their records properly, but the Records Officer may be asked why training and assistance was not provided. The employee's supervisor may be asked to explain why policies were either not well documented or why the employee did not follow them.

If employees are prematurely deleting records/emails, this practice prevents fulfilling the legal requirements of FOAA, which can have a negative impact on the agency, both legally and for public accountability purposes. Keeping records beyond required retention times can also be looked at as a form of mismanagement of records or negligence on behalf of the agency.

Note: Whoever knowingly and willfully removes or destroys records can be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 and by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than 3 years. (1 M.R.S.A. � 452).

Is it better to just keep all my email messages?
There are several reasons why keeping all emails indefinitely is not a proper management solution. 

1. Storage of digital records is not free and can get unnecessarily expensive if records are not managed efficiently and effectively.
2. The more messages stored, the longer and more complicated search and retrieval becomes.
3. Records kept beyond their retention date are a liability for the organization retaining them. Any records still being retained by the agency must be searched for and produced if requested; and costs of doing this otherwise needless work can be enormous.

If the same information is kept on electronic records and paper, do both mediums have to be retained?
If paper and electronic make up the records together, then yes, they both need to be kept as a mixed media schedule.

If the paper is a "copy" of the electronic version, then it may not need to be retained depending on the following:

1. the records are born digital;
2. the records are scanned, are not archival, and there are no federal or state laws requiring the retention of another media. 

We are trying to get agencies to move away from saving an electronic version in their agency and sending paper copies of duplicate material to the Records Center. This does not apply to archival records.

Is it OK to just save the last email in a string or print out emails and save them in paper format?
Although it may seem adequate for the retention of the record to delete email messages after the content has been saved in another program or has been printed for paper filing, when a FOAA search or legal discovery proceeding includes review of a state employee's emails, missing messages can create two problems. 

First, it is apparent to the person performing the review that certain messages are no longer there. This can be confusing to the reviewer, and it may be viewed by the requestor as an attempt by the State of Maine to conceal records instead of releasing them.

Second, every email message has metadata attached. This "data about data" is invisible to the email user, but it is often exactly what most interests a FOAA or legal discovery requestor. Destroying it by deleting the original message, even after saving the text to another format (paper included), can be treated by the courts as a deliberate act of bad faith.

Deleting the individual messages in "threads" creates the same problems as saving them in other formats. A FOAA requestor may not get the information actually sought, and a court may rule that the State of Maine's response to a discovery proceeding is deliberately inadequate because original messages cannot be produced with all their metadata attached.

Why is it necessary to keep the transmission data about the sender, receiver, date, and time of the email?
You should treat email messages the same way you treat paper correspondence. You would not delete the names of the sender and addressee, the date, or a time stamp from a letter on paper. The data identifying the sender and recipient(s), the time and date the message was sent, and, on the recipient(s) copy, the time and date it was received are equally essential elements that constitute a complete email record.

What do I do with attachments I receive with email?
File them with other electronic documents on your PC or network and apply the appropriate retention schedule. Your PC files should be organized similar to your email. Attachments can then be filed in the PC folder that corresponds with the email folder.

Should emails that go back and forth between sections dealing with routine daily operations be retained? 
The only records that should be retained are those that are made or received in connection with the transaction of official government business; and maintained as evidence of the agency's functions, policies, decision, procedures, operations, and other activities; or because of informational value. Many internal emails dealing with routine, daily operations will have transitory value.

Are instant messages (IM) records?
Yes, in certain circumstances. They are similar to email messages; that is, if the messages are needed to substantiate your work, you must treat them the same way you would any email record.

You need to capture the text of the message, as well as who the message is to/from and the date and time. Also, due to the informal and sometimes cryptic nature of IM, it may be necessary to transcribe or capture the message in another format much as you would for a phone conversation or other verbal communication if it is needed to document your activities.

Finally, it is important to be careful if you use a personal product to communicate with external users because it could result in unauthorized disclosure of information.

When employees leave, who is responsible to catalog and store information?
It is the responsibility of Agency managers and supervisors to secure and retain records of former employees. When an employee leaves a position, computer files, including email, may not be automatically deleted! OIT has a Checklist for Departing Employees on their intranet site: http://inet.state.me.us/foaa/all_employees.html#Email.