What is a Retention Schedule?

• A Records Retention and Disposition Schedule (or retention schedule, for short) is an official document, created by a government agency and approved by the State Archivist.
  
• A retention schedule lists every type of record that the agency generates
  
• For each record type (also known as a record series) on a retention schedule, the retention schedule also specifies how long the agency will retain the record before it is destroyed (in the case of non-permanent records) or transferred to the Archives (in the case of permanent records).
• More Information: What is a Record?

Why do I need a retention schedule?

• State Government Article 10, sections 608-611 and COMAR 14.18.02 require retention schedules for the economical and efficient management of records.
• Retention schedules let you know what records you have and where they are, which is vital information whenever you need to access information in your records.
• Retention schedules also ensure that you are retaining records for as long as you need them to do your job, but not expending resources holding on to records that have no further value.
• A retention schedule gives you authority to destroy records that have no further use.
• A retention schedule allows you to transfer to the State Archives records that have permanent value but that are no longer needed for your daily work.

We provide online reference access to all state, county, and municipal retention schedules that are known by the Archives to have received approval from the State Archivist. These series include schedules that have been amended or superseded by later schedules and, therefore, may no longer be in effect. The schedules are provided on this web site as a courtesy for reference purposes only. Questions regarding current schedules should be directed to the agency that creates the record. Inquiries about extant schedules can also be directed to the Records Management Division of the Department of General Services.

Before you create a retention schedule for your agency, you should check to see if the agency ever previously had a schedule that can provide you useful information in creating your new schedule. You can also view the recent schedules of other agencies to find out about how they are managing their records.

• State agency records retention and disposition schedules
• County agency records retention and disposition schedules
• Municipal agency records retention and disposition schedules

Forms

• To create a retention schedule, you must (1) inventory and (2) appraise your records. We provide retention schedule forms that will guide you in this process and allow you to document your records inventory and appraisal decisions.
• We provide different versions of the form, so you can use the one that best serves you.
• Googledoc
• For access, email Michael Swygert of the Records Management Division at dgs.src@maryland.gov.
• Word Doc
• Retention Schedule Cover Sheet (Each schedule will start with one cover sheet)
• Retention Schedule (You will use a new retention schedule page for each type of record)
• Instructions for the retention schedule forms

Inventory

• Creating a retention schedule involves doing an inventory of all your records. The inventory process helps you discover:
• What records you create and why you create them
• Where the records are and how they are organized
• The format and volume of the records
• How the records are accessed
• How long the records are actively used by your agency
• Inventorying your records will give you a complete picture of what records you create, why you create them, how they are used, and where they are.
• Information from the inventory will let you make informed records management decisions, such as:
• Whether records have permanent or non-permanent value
• How long records are needed for agency functions
• How much storage space your agency will need over time
• Where records should be stored relative to their activity levels
• How different types of records relate to each other (such as whether an index is necessary to access a certain type of record)
• Information on the inventory can also help inform your disaster management planning, such as:
• Which records are most vital to resuming an agency�s key functions after a disaster
• Where the most vital records are located
• Whether records are duplicated in another location

Appraisal

• Once you have gathered inventory information on your records, you can make the appraisal decisions of how long your records should be retained. You need to decide:
• Will the value of this record never cease (in which case it is a permanent record) or at some point does it have no further value (in which case it is a non-permanent record).
• In the case of permanent records, you have to decide how long your agency needs to retain the records to do its work before. Once they are no longer needed to do agency work, they should be scheduled for transfer to the Archives for permanent retention.
• In the case of non-permanent records, you have to decide how long your agency needs to retain the record before it has no further value and can be destroyed.
• When determining how long to retain records, keep the following aspects in mind:
• Historical value, or the usefulness of the records for historical research, such as records that show an agency�s origin, purpose, administrative development, accomplishments, and organizational structure;
• Administrative value or the usefulness of the records for carrying on an agency's current and future work;
• Regulatory and statutory requirements, whether the requirements are Federal, State, or local;
• Legal value, or the usefulness of the records to document and define legally enforceable rights or obligations of government and/or citizens;
• Fiscal value or the usefulness of the records to the administration of an agency's current financial obligations;

• Form completion - Be certain to complete all fields on the retention schedule form.
• Descriptive information - Keep in mind that retention schedules are a key part to our democracy in that it lets the public know what records the government creates and for how long those records exist. Therefore, make sure that your retention schedule is descriptive enough so that anyone can read it and understand what the records are. For example, acronyms and abbreviations should be spelled out the first time they are used. Be sure to clearly state the record�s purpose or why that record is created.
• Completeness - Make sure that your retention schedule includes all of your agency records, including paper records, digital records, and indexes.
• Clarity - To avoid any confusion, make sure that the schedule specifically states how long a record is retained and whether it is then destroyed or transferred to the State Archives. For sample retention language, see our suggested language section.
• Be sure to specify whether the schedule draft is superseding or amending an existing approved schedule.
• A new schedule supersedes a previously approved schedule if it is intended to fully replace the previous schedule.
• A new schedule amends a previously approved schedule if it is intended to add to an existing schedule.
• If no previously approved schedule exists for the agency, the new schedule does not supersede or amend anything.