SOP 101.04: Records Management

|GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Standard Operating Procedures|Col2|Col3|
|---|---|---|
|`Functional Area: `
`SUPPORT SERVICES -`
`ADMINISTRATION`|`Reference Number: `
`ID01-0001`|`Revises`
`Previous`
`Effective Date:`
`04/01/04`|
|`Subject:`
`RECORDS MANAGEMENT`|||
|`Authority:`
`OWENS/EAST`|`Effective Date:`
`10/01/12`|`Page``1`` of 8`
|

I. POLICY:

   A. Record management will conform to all pertinent
      provisions of the Georgia Records Act of 1972 and is
      applicable to procedures established by the Department of
      Archives and History. Each Administrator, Warden and
      Section Director (Management Level) is responsible for
      the records under their jurisdiction.

   B. Records designated as confidential by law or classified
      as containing information, the release of which, would
      constitute any invasion of privacy shall be so protected
      as to prevent unauthorized disclosure of information
      contained therein. An example of confidential records
      includes but is not limited to inmate/probationer/parolee
      case files and investigative files.

   C. Each activity will adhere to the procedures established
      by the Georgia Department of Archives and History for
      development and/or use of record retention schedules.

II. APPLICABILITY:

   Agency wide including all activities under the jurisdiction of
   the Board of Corrections.

III. RELATED DIRECTIVES:

   A. O.C.G.A. 50-18-92; 50-18-94; 45-13-40; 42-5-36

   B. BR&R 125-1-1-.09

IV. DEFINITIONS:

   A. RECORDS are information and documentation concerning
      state business. The format varies and exists in paper,

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   computer drives, disk, CD-ROM computer tape reels,
   cassette tape, microfilm, blueprints, video tapes, etc.
   Types of records are forms, documents, charts, calendars,
   computer printouts, Xerox and fax copies, microfilm,
   letters, notes and any other form of documentation of
   significance which relates to state operations or
   business.

B. PERMANENT RECORDS are those that are required by law to
   be maintained indefinitely .  All permanent records will
   be transferred to the State Archives.

C. TEMPORARY RECORDS are those that are retained to document
   state business for a limited period of time. Those
   records can also be retained for a specific length of
   time as designated by law.

D. AGENCY WIDE RECORD RETENTION SCHEDULES are those
   schedules that contain description, filing, maintenance,
   storage and destruction guidelines for a particular or
   series of records specifically used by the Department of
   Corrections. The retention schedule lists record series
   by record category and title. The record categories in
   this schedule are:

   Food Service, Probation, Inmate Information, Statistics,
   Legal Services, Health Services, Facilities, Programs,
   Training, Investigations and Compliance, Fire Services

E. RETENTION SCHEDULES FOR STATE GOVERNMENT PAPER AND
   ELECTRONIC RECORDS are those schedules that have been
   approved for use throughout all agencies of State
   Government. Those schedules cover files that are common
   to all agencies. Retention Schedules for State
   Government Paper and Electronic Records supersede agency
   retention schedules. Those schedules are to be applied
   to the official record. Secondary copies of the records
   are considered reference copies. The retention schedule
   lists record series by record category and title. The
   record categories used in this schedule are:

   Accounting, Administration, Administrative Support,
   Budgeting, Information Technology, Payroll, Personnel,
   Property, Records Management, Library/Archives/Museums,
   Legal, Security and Safety

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   F. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (SOP) ATTACHMENTS are
      generally forms that are required for use throughout our
      agency. The attachment may also be instructions for
      completing other attachments to the SOP. Regardless,
      each attachment should have a retention schedule on the
      bottom of the form. Retention Schedule information for
      attachments to SOPs is also indicated in Section VII of
      the SOP.

      NOTE : All records, regardless of the format, should be
      scheduled for retention and destruction and should not be
      kept beyond the time needed under normal business
      conditions. However, litigation, audit, or special
      department requirements may require the maintenance of
      records for a longer period of time.

V. ATTACHMENT:

   (related forms are located on CAPTIVA under
   Links>Administration Division>Business Forms)

   Form 1 - Record Inventory Form

   Form 2 - Directions for completing the Record Inventory Form

   Form 3 - Certificate of Records Destruction

   Form 4 - Authorization for Records Transfer and Receipt

   Form 5 - Directions for completing the Authorization for
   Records Transfer and Receipt form

   Form 6 - Directions for preparing records to be transferred to
      the State Record Center

VI. PROCEDURE:

   A. Retention schedules describe the records that are to be
      kept and when they are eligible for destruction.
      Maintenance and transfer of records will be in accordance
      with this Standard Operating Procedure and/or the
      Department of Archives and History approved retention
      schedules.

   B. Agency Wide Retention Schedules and Retention Schedules
      for State Government Paper and Electronic Records are
      available on Captiva in the Administration section.

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C. Retention periods are based on the legal, fiscal,
   administrative, and historical need for that particular
   record.

D. Records must be disposed of according to the specified
   retention of that record in the approved retention
   schedules. No records shall be scheduled for retention
   and kept longer than is absolutely necessary for
   performance of required functions.

E. Request for Department of Correction’s records from
   individuals or agencies outside of the Department will be
   coordinated through GDC Legal Services (478) 992-5229.

F. Requests for medical records will be coordinated through
   the Medical File Tracking Coordinator (770) 504-7290.
   Medical record requests coordinated through the Medical
   File Tracking Coordinator and or Legal Services must be
   in compliance with SOP VH78-0002, Confidentiality of the
   Health Record. The request for the medical record must
   include a completed and signed Release of Information
   form. The signature on the release of information form
   should be verified to be the same as the person’s file
   that is being requested. The Medical File Tracking
   Coordinator shall address questions regarding medical
   file tracking.

G. Medical Records will be processed and tracked through the
   SCRIBE Medical File Tracking System according to the
   directions described in the Medical File Tracking System
   Manual. This manual can be located in SCRIBE.

H. For security reasons, Departmental personnel access to
   records will be restricted to authorized personnel only.
   The affected manager controls jurisdiction of authorized
   personnel.

I. Local Units shall identify a staff person as their Local
   Record Manager (LRM). This person will be the contact
   for the Department’s Record Manager. The name of the
   person designated as the LRM will be provided to the
   Department’s Record manager. The LRM will function as a
   local record manager and will be provided training and
   information regarding record retention and destruction.
   Questions regarding the retention of records shall be

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   addressed by the Local Record Manager, where available,
   or the Department Record Manager. The telephone number
   for the Department Record manager is 478 445-1205 or 404
   683-1195.

J. Process for transferring records to the State Record
   Center:

   1. Directions for preparing the records to be
      transferred to the State Record Center are located
      in Form 6 relating to this SOP.

   2. The completed Authorization for Records Transfer and
      Receipt Form (Form 4) shall be forwarded to the
      Department’s Record Management Officer. Directions
      for completing this form are in Form 5 relating to
      this SOP.

   3. After review and approval, the Department Record
      Manager will forward the transmittal to the State
      Record Center.

   4. The State Record Center will print labels
      identifying the box or unit number and the location
      where the box will be stored at the Record Center or
      State Archives.

   5. The approved Record Transfer Forms and labels will
      be sent back to the Department Record Manager who
      will forward them to the LRM.

   6. The State Record Center label must be placed on the
      center of the short side of the box and the
      consignment number that is printed on the label must
      be written on the top right hand corner of the box.
      (See Form 6)

   7. The boxes of records transported to the State Record
      Center must be accompanied by the original signed
      Authorization for Records Transfer and Receipt Form
      (Form 4) and the Box Verification report that is
      provided with the labels for the boxes. If you are
      delivering more than 100 boxes, they must be on
      pallets when they are delivered  to the loading
      dock of the State Record Center.

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   8. When you are ready to transport your records to the
      State Record Center, you must call them at 404-756      4860 and they will schedule a day and time that you
      will be allowed to have the records delivered.

K. Conducting a Record Inventory: An inventory of records
   maintained in your work area or office is critical in the
   process of record management. A completed records
   inventory will enable us to respond to Open Records Act
   requests in a timely manner, destroy eligible records in
   an efficient and timely manner, identify key historical
   records serving as the agency’s memory and identify
   records requiring development of new retention schedules.

   1. Conduct a record inventory using Form 1, Record
      Inventory Form, relating to this SOP. Directions for
      completing the Record Inventory Form are in Form 2
      relating to this SOP.

   2. Begin with your active files and continue with files
      in storage areas or inactive file cabinets.

   3. Gather information by looking at the files and
      asking questions of office personnel who work with
      and are most knowledgeable about use of the files.

   4. Conducting a record inventory does not mean that
      every single sheet of paper needs to be inventoried.
      The inventory should be of categories of records
      that are maintained as a unit because they are
      related in some way, e.g. correspondence files.

   5. Seek assistance from our legal department if you are
      not sure of the legal need for the records.

   6. The information collected during an inventory varies
      from office to office.

   7. If you identify a series of records that do not have
      an existing retention schedule, contact the
      Department Record Management Officer for assistance
      in creating a new retention schedule.

L. Destruction of Records:

   1. Any record designated CONFIDENTIAL by law shall be
      so treated in the maintenance, storage and
      disposition of confidential records. These records

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         shall be destroyed in such a manner that they cannot
         be read, interpreted or reconstructed. Shredding or
         burning is the preferred method of destruction.

      2. Records that are transferred to the State Record
         Center have been assigned a destruction date. When
         the time has come for destruction of these records,
         a records destruction notice will be sent to the
         Department Record Manager from the State Record
         Center.

      3. The Department Record Manager will verify that the
         records are eligible for destruction and will sign
         and return the destruction notices back to the State
         Record Center.

      4. The State Record Center will be responsible for
         destruction of the records in their possession upon
         the receipt of the approved destruction notices.
         Notification that the records have been destroyed
         will be forwarded to the Department Record Manager.
         The Department Record Manager will keep the
         destruction notices until they are eligible for
         destruction.

      5. It will be the responsibility of the Local Record
         Manager or office manager to arrange destruction of
         records that are kept at the local level in
         facilities or offices that are not transferred to
         the State Record Center.

      6. The Local Record Manager or office manager will
         complete Form 3, Certificate of Records Destruction.
         Upon the destruction of the records, the certificate
         of records destruction will be signed and dated as
         to the date the records were destroyed. This
         completed form will be kept locally for review.

VII. RETENTION SCHEDULE

   Form 1 - Record Inventory Form will be kept for 5 years
   past the date of record destruction

   Form 2 - Directions for completing the Records Inventory Form
   will be kept until they are obsolete or updated.

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Form 3 - Certificate of Records Destruction will be kept for 5
years past the record destruction

Form 4 - Authorization for Records Transfer and Receipt Form
will be kept for 7 years past the records destruction

Form 5 - Directions for completing the Authorization for
Records Transfer and Receipt form will be kept until they are
obsolete or updated

Form 6 - Directions for preparing records to be transferred to
the State Record Center will be kept until they are obsolete
or updated.