Chapter 02. Records Retention and Disposition Schedules

“Agency” means any office, department, board, commission or other separate unit of Maryland government, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, and all political subdivisions.

“Appraisal” is the process of determining how long, in what format, and under what circumstances a record series ought to be preserved, based upon the information contained in the records inventory.

“Archives” means the Maryland State Archives.

“Custodian” means an officer or employee of the State or a political subdivision who, whether or not the officer or employee has physical custody and control of a public record, is responsible for keeping the public record.

“Division” means the Records Management Division of the Department of General Services.

“Non-permanent record” means a public record with temporary value which may be destroyed after the passage of a specified period of time.

“Permanent record” means a public record which is considered by law, statute, rule, agency personnel or the State Archivist to have ongoing administrative, fiscal, legal, historical, or other archival value.

“Publication” means any informational material developed by or for an agency for general public dissemination.

Record.

“Records inventory” means a survey of all records series maintained by an agency resulting in a detailed itemized compilation of the records in the possession of the agency, and is the first step in preparing a records retention and disposition schedule.

“Records officer” means any person or persons designated according to the provisions of this chapter whose responsibilities include the development and oversight of agency records management programs.

“Record series” means a set of similar records maintained in any form or format.

“Schedule” means a records retention and disposition schedule which is an official document listing and describing all records of an agency, and provides:

Retain and protect all records in their custody;

Cooperate with Division and Archives in the establishment and maintenance of an active and continuous program for the economical and efficient management of records;

Ensure that agency records, including electronic records, are covered by a schedule, which shall outline procedures to ensure the retention and usability throughout the authorized lifecycle of the records.

Agencies shall submit to Division for review a records inventory for each record series.

For each record series in inventory, the following information is required:

A Schedule shall be prepared by:

Schedules shall:

Schedules containing new record series must be submitted to the Division with records inventories.

Before an agency submits to Division a proposed schedule, the schedule shall have been approved in writing by the agency director.

Three signed copies of any proposed schedule and one copy of the records inventory accompanying each proposed schedule shall be submitted to Division for review.

Proposed revisions made by Division and approved by the agency shall be incorporated into proposed schedule and signed by the agency director.

The Division shall assign a control number (schedule number) and forward to Archives all three copies of proposed schedule, as amended or revised, and records inventory.

Archives shall review proposed schedule and, if the State Archivist approves it as submitted, two copies signed by the State Archivist shall be returned to the Division (one copy for transmittal to the agency). If the State Archivist disapproves the proposed schedule, in whole or in part, the Archives shall return all copies to Division with a statement of reasons for disapproval. The Division then shall request the agency to modify the schedule and resubmit it to the State Archivist for approval.

Until it has been approved in writing by the State Archivist, a schedule does not constitute legal authorization for the disposal of records.

At any time, a schedule may be amended or revised by an agency, or at the request of Division or Archives. Reasons for amendments or revisions may include the creation of new record series, changes in record-keeping practices, changes in formats, or reorganization of an agency. To amend or revise a schedule, steps outlined in this chapter shall be followed.