Glasgow Retention ordinance (§ 150.070)

A. Email messages sent utilizing a City computer and those exchanged between two (2) or more elected officials are subject to the same record retention regulations and procedures as pertain to paper documents deemed to be a record. Each employee and officer shall be responsible for retaining all messages sent by moving them to appropriate folders for filing electronically or by forwarding them to the City Clerk or by printing and retaining a paper copy. City Clerk shall maintain backup files that are created on a weekly basis with the last backup of each month retained for a period of one (1) year or as resources permit, except in the event of ongoing legal action or investigation concerning email records within that year in which case the records shall be retained until the legal matters are finally resolved.

B. Emails routinely sent to the City Clerk for dissemination to employees or officials of the City which are of an informational nature such as emails from MML, MIRMA, shall be retained for thirty (30) days or when no longer needed, whichever is later.

C. If an email is personal in nature, it may be deleted when no longer needed. If the email is in regard to a City business-related issue, it must be retained in accordance with the policy established by this Chapter or as later modified. The following are examples of email messages and the appropriate method of retention:

1. Invitations for lunch, birthday notices, other announcements that are considered personal in nature may be deleted when no longer needed.

2. Any message related to a request for service from a citizen is considered general correspondence and must be retained for five (5) years.

3. Any messages related to a current City project must be retained with the project files.

4. Any message related to a litigation item must be retained with the case files.

5. The retention of emails sent by an individual is the responsibility of the sender, except in the case of the City Clerk, who shall retain in keeping with this policy all email pertaining to City business.