1.1. Scope. - This Legislative Rule sets forth general Standards and Procedures for the effective and uniform management and preservation of public records created and filed under the jurisdiction of the various county government entities.
1.2. Authority. - W. Va. Code §§5A-8-15.
1.3. Filing Date. - 7 May 2004.
1.4. Effective Date. - 1 July 2004.
1.5. Purpose. - The purpose of the rule is to establish general standards and procedures for a uniform records management and preservation program, retention schedules for county government entities, and electronic records keeping systems.
2.1. This legislative rule applies to all county government entities and records, except those statutorily exempted from its application.
3.1. "Active Record" is a record that is currently used to fill the need for which it was originally created or acquired.
3.2. "Archival quality" means a quality of reproduction providing permanent, durable, and nondestructive storage or copying medium for records consistent with established standards specified by state and national agencies and organizations responsible for establishing such standards, such as the Association for Information and Image Management, the American National Standards Institute, the National Bureau of Standards, the National Archives and Records Administration, and others as applicable to the project submitted for funding.
3.3. "Archival record" means all inactive record of continuing and enduring value useful to the citizens of the state and necessary to the administrative functions of counties in the conduct of services and activities mandated by law. In appraisal of public records deemed archival, the terms "administrative," "fiscal," "historical," and "legal" shall be defined as:
3.4. "Archives" means a repository specifically designed for the preservation, storage, access and display of archival records; the organization operating an archives.
3.5. "Board" means the Records Management and Preservation Board.
3.6. "Code" means the West Virginia Code of 1931, as amended.
3.7. "Converting Electronic Records" means transferring electronic records by export or import from one software environment to another without loss of content or structure of the records.
3.8. "Copying Electronic Records" means transferring records from an existing storage medium to an alternate storage medium, maintaining the format specifications without any loss of content or structure.
3.8. "Director" means the Director of the Archives and History Section of the Division of Culture and History.
3.9. "Electronic Imaging System" is a computer-based system which stores digitally encoded records or documents, originally created in this form or a back-file conversion of original paper or microform records, to provide retrieval and access to imaged records on demand. Electronic Imaging Systems serve as an alternate format to paper or microfilm systems, which may provide for multiple and faster access to information. Electronic imaging does not meet archival quality national standards for the preservation for records scheduled for long term or permanent retention.
3.10. "Electronic Records" are records in a form that can be created, generated, sent, received, transmitted, read and processed by a computer and/or other electronic devices with digital and/or analog memories. Electronic records include data files and databases, electronic mail, machine readable indexes, word processing files, electronic spreadsheets, magnetic tapes and disks, optical disks, compact disks, digital disks, and any other form of magnetic, electronic, or digital media, including video and audio.
3.11. "Filing System" is a set of policies, procedures, methods, and equipment used for organizing files or records to facilitate access, retrieval, use and disposition.
3.12. "Inactive Record" means a record not in current use, having fulfilled its original purpose but retained for other administrative, fiscal, legal or historical value.
3.13. "Information System" means the organizational structure, processing, transmitting, and dissemination of information within defined manual or automated procedures.
3.14. "Migrating Electronic Records" means transferring records from one system or platform to another, usually requiring a specific program which must ensure that all records are migrated without loss of information content, structure, context, retrieval, or access.
3.15. "Non-record" is a convenience, courtesy, information, or display copy - a duplicate copy which is disposed of after this use.
3.16. "Preservation" means maintaining archival records in their original form by stabilizing them chemically or strengthening them physically to ensure their survival as long as possible in their original form. It also means the reformatting of written, printed, electronic or visual archival originals to extend the existence (life) of the information and access to it.
3.17. "Preservation Duplicate" is an exact copy of a vital record, made for reference purposes thereby preserving the original.
3.18. "Preservation Master Copy" is a copy of an original permanent record used only for purposes of making use copy and stored under archival conditions.
3.19. "Public record" means recorded information that documents a transaction or activity by a county official or office. Regardless of physical form or characteristic, the recorded information is a public record if it is produced, collected, received or retained in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business. The medium on which the information is recorded may be, but is not limited to, paper, film, magnetic, optical or solid state devices which can store electronic signals, tapes, Mylar, linen, silk or vellum. The general types of records may be, but are not limited to, books, papers, letters, documents, printouts, photographs, films, tapes, microfiche, microfilm, photostats, sound recordings, maps, drawings, and any representations held in machine readable form.
3.20. "Record Series" means a file unit or group of documents arranged in a filing system or kept together because they relate to a particular function or subject, or the same activity, transfer or transaction, or have some internal relationship based on creation, receipt, or use, and may have a particular physical form.
3.21. "Records Grant Program," means the CSR Title 100, Series 1, County Records Management and Preservation Grant Program, which receives and awards grants of merit to county government entities for projects to address management or preservation needs of county government entities' records from funds derived from fees collected by clerks of the county commission.
3.22. "Records Management" means the efficient and effective management and control of the creation, maintenance, use, and disposal of records, files and forms.
3.23. "Records Management and Preservation Board" is the body of nine members established in Code to establish a system of records management and preservation for county government records.
3.24. "Records Management Manual" means the written policies, practices, procedures, and standards set forth by the Board to guide all employees in county government entities in the creation, maintenance, preservation and disposition of records.
3.25. "Records Manager" is that person elected or appointed to office, or designee, who has administrative or supervisory role over office functions responsible for planning, maintenance, use, and disposition of records created and filed in that office; staff training to carry out those functions; and the implementation of the Board's records manual and records schedules. Records Manager may also be referred to as "Records Clerk", "Records Officer", "Records Administrator", "Records Custodian", "Records Keeper", as well as statutory office titles.
3.26. "Records Schedule" is a document which imposes mandatory instructions for the records of a government entity when no longer active or current, provides retention period for all record series of an office and authority for final disposition. Records schedules may be specific to an office or a general records schedule encompassing series of records, such as fiscal or personnel, common to all offices.
3.27. "Reformatting Records" means the transfer of a record or records from one medium to another, which may be from paper to microfilm, an audio analog cassette to digital disk, or analog video to DVD disk, but without any change in the intellectual content or information conveyed or carried on the format from which the alternate is made.
3.28. "Vital Record," for the purposes of this rule, is a record absolutely essential to the conduct of daily business or to protect and preserve the rights of the state, county or its citizens.
4.1. The county records management program shall manage the creation, use, maintenance, preservation and disposition of the records of county government entities utilizing uniform, efficient, and economical procedures and standards. The program shall:
4.2. The county records management program shall provide record schedules for the records of county government entities to ensure proper retention of records of continuing value and proper disposition of records of minimal value or no longer possessing administrative, legal, fiscal, or historical value sufficient to justify continuing maintenance. The program shall:
4.3. The county records management and preservation program shall identify and set forth uniform guidelines, procedures, and requirements for electronic record keeping systems and technologies which ensure the preservation of the original record, regardless of original format, which is incapable of erasure or alteration of any recorded information, which may be retrieved in form which accurately depicts and presents the image and recorded information of the original record, and which meets all legal requirements for evidentiary records. Electronic record keeping systems shall:
5.1. The Board shall:
5.2. County government entities will:
5.3 Director of Archives and History, or his or her designee shall:
Records Management and Preservation Board