| Item_No | RECORD_SERIES | Retention | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOCAL SCHEDULE GR | |||
| RECORDS COMMON TO ALL LOCAL GOVERNMENTS | |||
| PART I: ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS | |||
| SECTION 1-1: RECORDS OF GOVERNING BODIES | |||
| Retention Note: SCOPE OF SECTION - The retention periods established in this section also apply to the records of subsidiary boards, bureaus, commissions, or committees established by the governing body of a local government that have rule making or quasi-judicial authority over any activity or program of the government or that were established by ordinance, order, or resolution for the purposes of advising the governing body or a subsidiary body on policy. Consequently, the use of the term "governing body" in a records description includes the corresponding records of these subsidiary bodies. | |||
| 1000-01 GR | AGENDAS | ||
| a) Open meetings. | 2 years. | ||
| b) Closed sessions. | 2 years. | Tex. Civil Statues, art. 6252-17(2A)(f). | |
| 1000-02 GR | DEDICATIONS | PERMANENT. | |
| 1000-03 GR | MINUTES (the use of the term audiotape in (c)-(e) includes videotapes with sound) | ||
| (a) Written Minutes | PERMANENT | ||
| (b) Notes taken during meetings from which written minutes are prepared. | 90 days after approval of minutes by the governing body | Exempt from destruction request requirement. | |
| (d) Audiotapes of workshop sessions of governing bodies in which votes are not made and written minutes are not required by law to be taken. | PERMANENT | ||
| (g) Audiotapes of board workshop sessions. | 2 years. | ||
| (h) Policy Rec. to Personnel Task Force - Supporting documentation - One copy of each document of any type submitted to a meeting of a governing body for consideration, approval, or other action; if such action is reflected in the minutes of the meeting. | 2 years. | Review before disposal; some supporting documentation, not already required to be maintained permanently elsewhere in this or other commission schedules, may merit permanent retention for historical reasons. | |
| Retention Note: The retention periods for many of the documents submitted to a governing body for action are established elsewhere in this or other commission schedules and are often longer than the 2-year retention period for supporting documentation set here. The 2-year retention requirement does not override a longer retention requirement set elsewhere, but rather is meant to ensure that all documents presented for action by a governing body are retained at least two years. This schedule does not require that supporting documentation be maintained together, but the retention by the clerk or secretary to the governing body of one set of the documents submitted at each meeting (often called "council packets" in municipalities) for two years would ensure satisfaction of the minimum retention requirement. Clerks or secretaries to governing bodies should exercise caution in disposing of supporting documentation to avoid destruction of the record copy of a document for which they are custodian before the expiration of its retention period. | |||
| 1000-04 GR | OPEN MEETING NOTICES | 2 years. | |
| 1000-06 GR | PETITIONS - Petitions from the public to the governing body or subsidiary boards or commissions of a local government. | Consideration of the petition + 2 years. | |
| Retention Note: Does not include petitions noted elsewhere in this or other commission schedules or any petition presented to a commissioners court that state law requires a county clerk to record. See Volume I of the Texas County Records Manual. | |||
| SECTION 1-2: GENERAL RECORDS | |||
| 1000-07 GR | PROCLAMATIONS | 2 years. | |
| 1000-24 GR | COMPLAINTS - Complaints received from the public by a governing body or any officer or employee of a local government relating to government policy. | Resolution or dismissal of complaint + 2 years. | |
| Retention Note: The 2-year retention period applies only to complaints of a general nature that do not fall into a different category of complaint noted in this or other commission schedules (e.g., complaints from the public about potential fire hazards are scheduled in Local Schedule PS and have a longer retention period). | |||
| 1000-26 GR | CORRESPONDENCE AND INTERNAL MEMORANDA (includes incoming and copies of outgoing correspondence and internal correspondence and memoranda). | ||
| Retention Note: The minimum retention period for correspondence or internal memoranda in categories (a) and (b) directly linked to another record series or group listed in this or other commission schedules is that assigned to the other group or series. For example, a letter from an external auditor regarding an audit of a local government's financial records should be retained for the retention period given under item number 1025-01 (e); a letter concerning a workers compensation claim should be retained for the period given under item number 1050-32, etc. The retention periods that follow are for correspondence and internal memoranda that do not readily fall within other record groups. | |||
| a) Policy and program development - Correspondence and internal memoranda pertaining to the formulation, planning, implementation, modification, or redefinition of the policies, programs, services, or projects of a local government. Includes TX Assoc. Access ane Equity files. | 5 years. | Review before disposal; some correspondence of this type may merit permanent retention for historical reasons. | |
| b) Administrative - Correspondence and internal memoranda pertaining to or arising from the routine administration or operation of the policies, programs, services, and projects of a local government. Includes TX Assoc. of Comm. College HR Professionals, North TX Chpt Coll and Univ Pers Assoc., Coordinating Board Corres. files. | 2 years. | ||
| c) Routine - Correspondence and internal memoranda such as letters of transmittal, requests for publications, internal meeting notices, and similar routine matters. | AV | Exempt from destruction request requirement. | |
| (d) Print-outs verifying data entry. | AV | ||
| (e) E-mail messages (See Retention Note above). | AV | ||
| 1000-32 GR | MINUTES (STAFF) - Minutes of internal staff meetings. Includes President's Advisory Council, Personnel Task Force, Council on Planning for Institutional Effectiveness and Tracking Task Force. | AV | Exempt from destruction request requirement. |
| PART 2: FINANCIAL RECORDS | |||
| Retention Notes: a) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS - Most local governments are required by state law to conduct annual or biennial audits of their records and accounts. These audit requirements were taken into account in setting the retention periods in this schedule. The following retention rules also apply: 1) In any local government for which there is no statutory audit requirement and audits are conducted irregularly or in a local government in which a statutorily required audit is delayed, any record in this schedule whose retention period dates from the end of a fiscal year (FE) must be retained for the retention period stated or one year after audit, whichever is later. 2) With regard to any special fund of a local government or elective county office for which there is no statutory audit requirement and the fund is not audited, any records listed under item numbers 1025-26, 1025-27, 1025-28, and 1025-30 associated with receipts and disbursements from or to the fund must be retained for FE + 10 years. |
|||
| b) GRANT RECORDS - Subsections (1)-(3) apply to any local government, except school districts receiving federal, state, or private grants; subsection (4) applies to school districts only. 1) Direct Federal Grants - This subsection applies to grants received by a local government directly from a federal grantor agency. i) Most federal grantor agencies require that grant-related records be retained for audit purposes for 3 years from the filing of expenditure reports. A few agencies, however, require a 5-year retention. Reference should be made to the specific terms of each grant to determine whether a 3-year or 5-year retention period is required and whether additional retention provisions apply. ii) In addition to item number 1025-08(a)-(b), financial and programmatic records of grant-funded projects, including copies of documentation of relevant accounting, banking, purchasing, and payroll records, and other documents and working papers associated with the financial and programmatic administration of the grant funds or used to prepare reports or forms required by federal law or regulation must be retained for the following periods: A) For grants continued or renewed annually or at other intervals except quarterly - 3 or 5 years from the date of submission of the annual or other periodic expenditure report. B) For grants continued or renewed quarterly - 3 or 5 years from the date of submission of the expenditure report for the last quarter of the federal fiscal year. C) For grants for which the requirement of a final expenditure report has been waived - 3 or 5 years from the date the report would have been due. D) For all other grants - 3 or 5 years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report. iii) The retention periods for the following types of records are exceptions to the periods noted above: A) Records of non-expendable property or equipment acquired with grant funds - 3 or 5 years from the date of transfer, replacement, sale, or junking of the item. B) Cost allocation plans and indirect cost records - 3 or 5 years from date of submission or for plans prepared and retained by the grantee, from the close of the fiscal year covered by the plan. C) Income records - 3 or 5 years from the end of the fiscal year in which the income is used. iv) If any litigation or audit commences before the expiration of the 3 or 5 year period, the records must be retained until all litigation or audit findings are resolved or until the end of the regular 3 or 5 year period, whichever is later. v) If records are transferred to the grantor agency at its request, copies of the records need not be retained. |
|||
| 2) Indirect Federal Grants - this subsection applies to federal grants received as subgrants from state agencies or other local governments (e.g., regional councils of government). The expenditure reports are submitted to the federal agency by the state or local subgrantor agency after all subgrantees have submitted reports tot the subgrantor. Consequently, records under item number 1025-08(a)-(b) and records described in section (b)(1) must be retained by local government subgrantees for the following minimum retention periods: A) For grant programs with a 3-year federal retention requirement - FE + 5 years. B) For grant programs with a 5-year federal retention requirement - FE + 7 years. |
|||
| 3) State and Private Grants - This schedule extends the 3-year federal retention requirement described in section (b)(1) to state (excluding federal subgrants) and private grant records unless the state or private grantor agency has established different retention requirements, in which case those requirements shall prevail. It is an exception to the extension of federal grant requirements to state and private grants that for state or private grants renewed quarterly as described in section (b)(1)(ii)(B), the 3-year retention requirement runs from the date of submission of the expenditure report for the last quarter of the state fiscal year for state grants and from the last quarter of the local government's fiscal year for private grants. | |||
| 4) Grant Records and School districts (including Educational Service Centers) - See page 7 of Local Schedule SD. Because of the difficulty of effectively separating financial data that evidence the expenditure of federal funds from those that document the expenditure of local or state-allocated funds, a 7-year retention period has been adopted for most financial records of school districts. The use of the term "school district" in this schedule includes educational service centers, county departments of education, and educational cooperatives. | |||
| SECTION 2-1: FISCAL ADMINISTRATION AND REPORTING | |||
| 1025-01 GR | AUDIT RECORDS (by both internal and external auditors) | ||
| a) Annual or biennial cumulative audit. | PERMANENT. | ||
| b) Annual, biennial, or other periodic audit of a department, program, fund, or account if included in a cumulative audit under (a). | PERMANENT | ||
| c) Annual, biennial, or other periodic audit of a department, program, fund, or account if not included in a cumulative audit under (a). | PERMANENT. | ||
| d) Special audits ordered by a governing body, a court or grand jury, or mandated by administrative rules of a state or federal agency. | PERMANENT. | ||
| e) Working papers, summaries, and similar records created for the purposes of conducting an audit. | 3 years after all questions arising from the audit have been resolved. | ||
| 1025-28 GR | BANKING RECORDS - Bank statements, canceled checks, check registers, deposit slips, debit and credit notices, reconciliations, notices of interest earned, voided checks, etc. | FE + 5 years. | |
| 1050-28 GR | TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT RECORDS (for other records relating to aptitude or skills tests required of job applicants or of current personnel to qualify for promotion or transfer see item number 1050-02) | ||
| Retention Note: If information concerning training or testing (e.g., test scores) is transferred to an Employee Service Record (item number 1050-12). The document from which the information is taken need be retained for only 2 years. | |||
| (b) Staff Development Program Agendas | 3 years. | ||
| c) Training manuals, syllabuses, course outlines, and similar training aids used in in-house training programs. | US | Exempt from destruction request requirement. | |
| (d) Skill or achievement measurement records of a training group or class as a whole (e.g., rosters with scores) (Staff development records) | 2 years. | ||
| LOCAL SCHEDULE EL | |||
| RECORDS OF ELECTIONS AND VOTER REGISTRATION | |||
| PART 1: ELECTION RECORDS | |||
| Retention Notes: a) RETENTION PERIODS - State law requires that many of the election records listed in this schedule be retained for the same period as that established in law for precinct election records. To avoid unnecessary repetition of the same retention period, the codes RP-1 and RP-2 will be used in the retention column of this schedule to indicate that the record noted is governed by the following minimum retention periods, as applicable: | |||
| RP-1: General, special and primary elections that do not involve a federal office - 60 days after election day. [Tex. Election Code, paragraph 66.058(a)] | |||
| RP-2: General, special, and primary elections that do involve a federal office - 22 months after election day. [Tex. Election Code, paragraph 66.058(g)] If, at the expiration of the retention period for either type, an election contest or a criminal investigation or proceeding in connection with an election to which the records pertain is pending, the records must be preserved until the contest, investigation, or proceeding is completed and the judgment, if any, becomes final. (Tex. Election Code, paragraph 1.013) A record whose retention period is given as RP-1 or RP-2 is exempt from the destruction request requirement. |
|||
| b) AUTHORITY OF THIS SCHEDULE - This schedule applies to and is binding upon county clerks, county tax assessor-collectors, county election administrators, election clerks in other local governments, and all other officials or employees of a local government who have custody of or maintain records of elections or voter registration. Many of the retention periods established in the Texas Election Code also apply to county executive committees of political parties who conduct their own primaries. These committees are not bound, however, by the destruction notice and records scheduling requirements of the Local Government Records Act. | |||
| 3100-01 EL | ABSENTEE AND RESTRICTED BALLOT VOTING RECORDS [see also item number 3100-10(b)] | ||
| Retention Note: Records in this group include any records of the types listed relating to early voting. | |||
| a) All of the following: absentee ballot requests and applications (except federal post card applications), cancellations of absentee ballot requests, notices of denial of cancellation requests, branch voting schedules and daily registers, lists of corrected ballots sent, untimely and rejected ballots, jacket envelopes (unless for use in subsequent election), carrier envelopes, absentee rosters, absentee election returns, voted absentee ballots, statements of challenge to absentee voters, notices of non-acceptance of absentee ballots, orders for the appointment of signature verification committees, late absentee ballot applications, disabled voter applications and affidavits, applications to vote restricted ballot, restricted ballot rosters, and presidential mail ballot applications. | RT-1 or RP-2. | Tex. Election Code paragraphs 84.010, 84.037, 85.072(d), 86.009(d), 86.011(c), 87.043(c), 87.044(b), 87.121(e), 87.123(2), and 87.124. | |
| b) Precinct absentee list (listing voters in each precinct who have voted absentee or who have been mailed absentee ballots). | RP-1 or RP-2. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 66.058(a, g). | |
| Retention Note: It is an exception to the retention period given for this record that one copy of each precinct absentee list prepared for a general election must be retained by the absentee voting clerk for 2 years after election day. [Tex. Election Code, paragraph 87.122(d)] | |||
| c) Federal post card applications requesting absentee ballot. | RP-1 or RP-2, dating from the day of the last election for which the application is effective. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph. 101.005(d). | |
| 3100-02 EL | ELECTION CONTRACTS - Contracts, leases, or agreements for election services or the use of voting machines, including written approvals from the Secretary of State, if such approval is required. | 4 years after the expiration or termination of the instrument according to its terms. | |
| Retention Note: In counties, the retention period applies only to the copy of the contract maintained by the county elections officer. Copies of the contract filed with and maintained by the county treasurer, county auditor, or the county judge need only be retained as long as administratively valuable and are exempt from the destruction notice requirement. | |||
| 3100-03 EL | ELECTION MINUTES, NOTICES, AND ORDERS | ||
| a) Minutes of governing body concerning elections. | PERMANENT. | ||
| b) Posted or published notices of election, including records (e.g., affidavits of publication, record of posting locations, or lists of voters to whom notices are mailed) which document the time, place, and manner of notice. | RP-1 or RP-2. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 4.005(d). | |
| c) Election orders and proclamations. | |||
| 1) Ordering an election. | RP-1 or RP-2. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 3.008(a). | |
| Retention Note: Tex. Election Code [paragraph 3.008(b)] requires that the date and nature of an election ordered by a political subdivision be entered in the minutes of its governing body. | |||
| 2) Relating to multiple elections or election procedures (e.g., order adopting a voting system; order appointing a county elections administrator). | AV if recorded in the minutes of the governing body; PERMANENT if not recorded. | Exempt from destruction request requirement. | |
| 3100-05 EL | ELECTION PETITIONS | ||
| (a) Petition for formation of college. | PERMANENT | ||
| (b) Petition for bond election. | 2 years after election day | ||
| Retention Notes: a) This record group includes petitions for bond election , local option elections (including applications), and such other issues permitted by law. It does not include petitions for a place on the ballot; see item number 3125-02(a). b) Some election petitions presented to commissioners courts are required by law to be recorded by county clerks. The retention period applies only to filed copies of petitions. The retention period for recorded copies is that assigned in the Texas County Records Manual to the record in which the petition is recorded. |
|||
| PART 2: RECORDS OF CANDIDACY AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE | |||
| 3125-01 EL | CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS AND FILINGS | ||
| a) Campaign contributions and expenditure statements (including annual reports of unexpended contributions). | Date of filing + 2 years. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 254.040. | |
| b) Designations of campaign treasurers. | 2 years after appointment terminated. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 252.014. | |
| 3125-02 EL | CANDIDACY APPLICATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS | ||
| a) Applications and any accompanying petitions for place on ballot, including any rejection notices and withdrawal of petition signature requests. | Election day + 2 years. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 141.036. | |
| b) Certifications of candidates (including certifications of replacement nominees by party executive committees). | |||
| 1) Copy maintained by authority to whom application for a place on ballot is made. | AV after election day. | Exempt from destruction request requirement. | |
| 2) Copy maintained by authority responsible for preparation of official ballot. | Election day + 2 years. | ||
| c) Declarations of intent to run as an independent candidate. | Day after general election day. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 142.003. Exempt from destruction request requirement. | |
| d) Declarations of write-in candidacy. | Election day + 2 years. | Tex. Election Code, paragraph 146.028. | |
| e) Withdrawal of candidacy requests. | Election day + 2 years. | ||
| PART 5: ACCREDITATION RECORDS | |||
| 3800-01 JC | ACCREDITATION REPORTS - Final self study evaluation reports and investigative and final accreditation reports from accrediting agencies relating to the accreditation status of a junior college. (SACS) | PERMANENT. |