Help with Council of Governments Records Retention

Which Retention Schedules Do Councils of Governments Use?

1. Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule (CORE) v.5.0 (October 2024)
2. Economic Development and Transport Records Retention Schedule v.1.2 (August 2021)
3. Social Services Records Retention Schedule v.2.0 (October 2023)
4. Transit Authorities Records Retention Schedule v.2.0 (February 2025)

Click to expand each topic...

Basics of Records Retention...

• What Are Records Retention Schedules?
• What Are Records Series?
• How Are Records Retention Periods Determined?
• What is an Archival Record?
• What is a Non-Archival Record?

Help Finding the Right Retention...

• How to Navigate Records Retention Schedules
• How to Determine the Correct Records Series
• How to Choose Between Multiple Records Series
• Searching Techniques for Records Retention Schedules Video (3 minutes)

How Long to Keep...

• Appointment Letters
• Audit Trails
• Backups
• Chat/Instant Messaging
• COVID-19 Contact Tracing Logs and Screening Records
• COVID-19 Pandemic Records
• COVID-19 Vaccination Verification Records
• Database Records
• Data Entry Records
• Drone Operations Records

• Drone Recordings
• Emails
• Meeting Recordings
• Migration Process Records
• Public Records Request Logs
• Public Records Requests
• Recruitment Records
• Social Media Posts
• Text Messages
• Voicemails

Strategies for...

• Applying Retention Schedule Updates
• Applying Retention to Project Files
• Applying Retention to Subject Files
• Managing Chat/Instant Messaging Retention
• Managing Notary Public Journals

• Managing Sensitive Payment Cardholder Data
• Managing Social Media Records Retention
• Managing Vehicle Telematics Data/Records
• Managing Voicemail Retention

Transitory Records...

• Examples of Common Records with Minimal Retention
• What Does "Until No Longer Needed for Agency Business" Mean?
• Why Isn't There Just One "Transitory" Records Series?

Other Advice...

• Difference Between Administrative and Core Mission Policies/Procedures
• Impact of Public Records Requests on Records Retention
• What are Personnel Files?
• What To Do With Non-Work-Related Appointments in Calendars

Training...

• Basics of Managing Records Training
• Retention Schedules "Demystified" (Recorded Webinar - April 2015 - 40 minutes)