Records Retention

State Record:

Any written, photographic, or other recorded information created or received by or on behalf of a state agency or an elected state official that documents activities in the conduct of the state business or the use of public resources (Texas Government Code §441.180). Emails received on office computers fall under the definition of state record and must be treated as such according to the content of the email and based on the requirements of the retention schedule.

Copies of Record:

The official state record kept on file as the original or master copy and maintained by the institution for the total retention period. These records are subject to the retention schedule, and must be disposed of in a timely manner according to the retention schedule. Failure to do so results in non-compliance.

Copies of record require approval prior to destruction or disposition. The records destruction form (pdf) must be completed, submitted to the Records Officer and returned to the department fully approved before destruction or disposition can take place. If you are unsure whether the document you hold is the copy of record please contact Tim Arnold by email at tarnold@tamut.edu or by telephone at (903)223-3088.

Transitory Records:

Records that have temporary usefulness and are needed only for a limited time for the completion of a particular action. These records are not essential to the documentation of an agency’s functions, they are not a part of any record series and they are not listed in the Record Retention Schedule. These records can be disposed of without approval; however departments should have a process for disposing of these records. Examples of transitory records include temporary information such as telephone messages, routing slips, some memos, some draft documents, incoming letters that add nothing of substance, routine information that is used for communication but not for documentation.

Convenience Copies:

All other copies of the copy of record that were created for convenience, reference, or research. Convenience copies can be destroyed at any time but must be destroyed by the end of the retention period. They cannot be kept longer than the record copies. If a convenience copy is kept longer than the record copy it becomes a copy of record and results in non-compliance.

Inactive Records:

Records that are referred to infrequently but must be maintained until the retention period is over.

Active Records:

Records that are needed to perform current operations or duties. They are accessed frequently and should be near the user.

Archival Preservation:

If a record is designated in the Record Retention Schedule as one which should be kept as an archival record or if a department believes that a record should be kept for archival purposes and placed in the university archives, the department should contact the Records Officer for consultation.

Destruction:

If a record has met the retention period in the Record Retention Schedule, it must be destroyed in a timely manner, and this process has to be approved and documented using the Records Destruction Form (pdf). This process is extremely important as we must verify that there is no reason that documents may not be destroyed such as pending litigation, claims, negotiations, audits, open records requests, or administrative review. If any of these are pending, then records must be kept until the completion of these actions.

The Records Destruction Form and instructions for preparing the form are provided in downloadable formats. Assistance in filling out forms is available as needed. Contact Tim Arnold at (903) 223-3088 or by email at tarnold@tamut.edu.

Completed forms may be scanned and sent by email to tarnold@tamut.edu or sent via campus mail to the attention of Tim Arnold, Library.

Records Destruction Form 

Instructions for Preparing Records Destruction Form