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Records Officer Guidance

Records officers are appointed by the head of each government unit to develop and oversee that unit's records management program.

In addition to the guidance on this page, the text slides on the homepage of this website provide an introductory overview, and IPER resources can be found in the 'For Additional Guidance' section below.

What are Your Responsibilities as Agency Records Officer?

Annotated Code of Maryland State Government 10-610 specifies the duties of a records officer as:

Serve as liaison to the Records Management Division of the Department of General Services and the State Archives; and
Develop and oversee the records management program of your agency

Serve as a Liaison

As records officer for your agency, you will be the point of contact for the Records Management Division of the Department of General Services and the State Archives for any records management issues. In order to effectively serve as a point of contact, you must keep these these agencies informed on your up-to-date contact information, including your:

Name
Title
Email Address
Mailing Address
Phone Number

Updates to your contact information should be emailed to the State Archives at msa.helpdesk@maryland.gov with the subject line “Records Officer Assignment”.

Develop and Oversee Your Agency’s Records Management Program

Annotated Code of Maryland State Government Article 10-610 specifies that each unit of the State government have a program for the continual, economical, and efficient management of the records of the unit. The purpose of this program is to:

Protect records considered essential to the continuing operation of government;
Guarantee the integrity and preservation of permanent records;
Ensure the legal admissibility of the permanent record;
Secure the rights and privileges of citizens;
Assure public access to the records of government;
Promote agency legal and fiscal accountability; and
Provide a means to document agency administrative history.

There are many benefits to your agency in having an effective records management program:

Provide easy access to records which are frequently necessary for financial operations
In the event of disaster, provide for preservation and access to essential records needed to maintain continuity of government
Safeguard critical institutional memory in the case of staff turnover
Provide evidence for litigation
Significantly improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of internal operations
Lower storage costs by transferring permanent records to the Archives and destroying non-permanent records in a timely manner

The law requires that your records management program have procedures for:

Safeguarding the security and integrity of records;
Establishing and revising agency records retention and disposition schedules;
Maintaining inventories of agency records series that are accurate and complete;
Disposing of non-permanent agency records that have met retention requirements in a prompt, orderly, and documented manner; and
Transferring permanent agency records to the custody of the Archives.

Establishing and maintaining a good records management program may seem daunting, but your responsibilities are manageable. A little effort in the short term will save you trouble in the long term. As you are now responsible for developing and overseeing these procedures, let’s look at each one individually.

This web site is provided as a courtesy of the Maryland State Archives. As you develop your records management program, you should consult with your agency’s Records Officer.

This web site is presented for reference purposes under the doctrine of fair use. When this material is used, in whole or in part, proper citation and credit must be attributed to the Maryland State Archives. PLEASE NOTE: The site may contain material from other sources which may be under copyright. Rights assessment, and full originating source citation, is the responsibility of the user.

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