City of Camarillo
CITY COUNCIL POLICY
Section: Information Technology Date Adopted: September 24, 2008 Date Amended: December 13, 2023
Subject:Email Retention
Number: 12.02 Page 1 of 3
PURPOSE
To establish a policy for the management, for the proper retention and disposal of electronic mail (email) messages ensuring compliance with applicable State Laws..
POLICY
All emails maintained on City computers is are potentially a public records under California’s Public Records Act, therefore the retention and disposition of emails should be in compliance with State Laws, the California Public Records Act, and the City of Camarillo adopted Records Retention Schedule.
The California Public Records Act (CPRA) defines a public record as, “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.”
The CPRA requires the proper identification and management of emails, which are subject to the City’s adopted Records Retention Schedule and should be retained and disposed of accordingly. Email is not considered an individual record series, and retention or disposition depends on the information contained, the purpose served, and the evaluation and categorization of each individual email.
Accordingly, individuals have the same responsibility for email messages as for any other public records.
A. Categories of Email:
The sender or, if the email was sent by a person that is not associated with the City, the recipient, is primarily responsible for the proper retention of the email.
The sender’s or recipient’s first duty is to categorize the email for retention purposes. Email falls within two broad categories: 1) transitory messages; and 2) public records of lasting value.
Adopted 12.02, September 24, 2008 Policy 12.02
Questions about the proper classification (transitory or lasting value) of a specific email, record, or piece of information should be directed to the employee’s or consultant’s supervisor or department head. City officials should consult with the offices of the City Clerk or City Attorney.
1. Transitory Messages
a. Identification. An email should be categorized as a “transitory message” when it:
(1) Is a routine communication or information exchange. (2) Does not have lasting value and is not required to be kept in the normal course of business.
(3) Does not document City business that should be preserved for future reference.
(4) Conveys information of limited importance, in lieu of oral communication, and has very limited administrative value. b. Retention: Examples. Transitory messages include notices of meetings or events, internal requests for information, minor announcements about employee activities, listserve messages, personal messages, phone messages, and invitations.
Some e-mail may contain information that is more than transitory, but not generally needed beyond a limited period or maintained in the ordinary course of business. Examples include preliminary drafts, notes, memos, and some routine correspondence.
Per the California Public Records Act, such transitory email may be deleted after the default retention period, but before the minimum two-year retention period for public records of lasting value, when the information is no longer needed for operational purposes and has limited historical significance or value.
c. Retention.
(1) Transitory messages should be read and deleted from the exchange email server within 60 days.
(2) When job requirements necessitate retention for periods longer than 60 days, transitory messages should be moved off the exchange email server to an appropriate department folder, and deleted when their usefulness has ended.
2. Public Records of Lasting Value
Adopted 12.02, September 24, 2008 Policy 12.02
a. Identification. An email should be classified as a “public record of lasting value” when it:
(1) Has operational value such as:
a. administrative actions taken or planned;
b. reports or recommendationsoperational manuals;
c. adopted policies, procedures, and guidelines,
templates;
d. needed to ensure continuity of operations.
(2) Is required to be kept by law.
(3) Has fiscal value or is required for financial reporting and audits.
(4) Has historical significance.
b. Retention. E-mail messages that have lasting value should:
(1) Not be stored in an individual user’s email folders/files. (2) Be electronically stored in a shared public folder on a departmental networked file system.
(3) Be printed and maintained in hard copy format, if needed. (4)Per the California Public Records Act, emails of lasting value should Bbe retained for at least the minimum two-year period required under State Law, and according to the City’s Records Retention Schedule.
Only the department responsible for the retention of a specific type of information or record is required to store and control the disposition of a public record in electronic form. Other recipients should not retain messages longer than required for their respective job purposes.
When that need no longer exists, the information should be deleted.
B. Default Retention Period
1. All e-mail on the email system will be automatically moved to the “deleted items” folder after 60 days.
2. E-mail in the “deleted items” folder will be automatically deleted after 30 days.
3. No more than 500 megabytes may be stored in email folders.
C. Backup Files
Adopted 12.02, September 24, 2008 Policy 12.02
Backup copies of City email will be kept for no more than 30 days. These backups are for system restoration and disaster recovery purposes, and are not designated to facilitate retrieval of deleted messages or to serve any long term archival purpose.
D. Litigation Holds
1. A litigation hold directive will be issued by the City Attorney’s Office when required by law due to pending or threatening litigation.
2. A litigation hold directive overrides this email retention policy, as well as any records retention schedules.
3. E-mail and accounts of separated employees or consultants that have been placed on litigation hold status must be maintained by the General Services Department until the hold is released.
4. No employee, official or consultant who has received a litigation hold directive may alter or delete an electronic record that falls within the scope of that hold. Such individuals will also be required to provide access to or copies of any electronic records that they have downloaded and saved, or moved to some other storage account or device.