HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-008-02/18/2003-ADOPTING A POLICY FOR THE USE, MANAGEMENT AND RETENTION OF ELECTRONIC MAIL BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COU RESOLUTION 2003-008
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
ADOPTING A POLICY FOR THE USE, MANAGEMENT
AND RETENTION OF ELECTRONIC MAIL
BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes electronic mail ("e-mail") as an important
communication tool;and
WHEREAS, e-mail systems are neither intended nor designed as systems for storage; and
WHEREAS,the City is mindful of its obligations under the Colorado Open Records Act to
generally make its e-mail available for public inspection,and is desirous of maintaining its records,
including e-mail,in a manner that facilitates the efficient and expedient retrieval of such documents
upon request; and
WHEREAS,the City Manager has recently adopted an administrative policy governing the
use,management and retention of electronic communications by employees in furtherance of these
objectives; and
WHEREAS,the City Council supports that administrative policy and desires that its e-mail
be governed by a similar policy, with certain modifications tailored to the City Council's use of e-
mail,which policy is attached hereto as Exhibit"A"and incorporated herein by this reference;and
WHEREAS, the City has a General Records Retention Schedule that was approved by the
State Archivist in 1991; and
WHEREAS, the City has made a number of proposed revisions to this General Records
Retention Schedule, which have not yet been approved by the State Archivist; and
WHEREAS,City staff anticipates that the revised General Records Retention Schedule will
be approved by the State Archivist within the year; and
WHEREAS, the Council believes it will promote consistency and reduce confusion to
incorporate into the Council e-mail policy certain guidelines for the retention of Council e-mail,
consistent with the proposed revisions to the General Records Retention Schedule, to be used in
conjunction with the proposed e-mail policy.
NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF FORT COLLINS,
that:
Section 1. Thee-mail policy concerning the Mayor and City Council members,attached
hereto as Exhibit "A", is hereby adopted by the Council.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held this 18th day of February,
A.D. 2003.
'IMP 7
'Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk
EXHIBIT "A"
Council E-Mail Policy
This policy governs the use,management and retention of electronic mail by members of the
City Council.
Electronic mail ("e-mail")is an electronic message that is transmitted between two or more
computers or electronic terminals, whether or not the message is converted to hard copy
format after receipt and whether or not the message is viewed upon transmission or stored
for laterretrieval,including electronic messages that are transmitted through a local,regional
or global computer network.
E-mail created,received or kept by Councilmembers that is related to City business,whether
on paper or in electronic form, constitutes a "public record" of the City, regardless of its
physical location or the form in which it is maintained. Therefore, such e-mail
communications are generally subject to the disclosure requirements of the Colorado Open
Records Act unless a particular provision in the Act allows or requires confidentiality.
Furthermore, e-mail messages may be discoverable in litigation. Accordingly,
Councilmembers should have no expectation of privacy in either sending or receiving
information electronically, and they are responsible for using, managing, and retaining e-
mail in accordance with this policy.
A. Management of E-Mail
E-mail related to City business should be handled with the same level of care
properly used in the creation, distribution, management and retention of paper
records and correspondence. E-mail is subject to the same etiquette and courtesy
considerations as paper correspondence. E-mail misaddressed or received in error
should be deleted after a reply is sent to inform the sender of the error.
B. Retention of E-Mail-General Principles
1. E-mail is a system that is designed for communication and not for the storage
of messages. Therefore,electronic records and messages should not be preserved or
archived in the City's e-mail system on a permanent basis,and should remain in the
e-mail system only for short-term reference and use. Effective May 3,2003, all e-
mail messages 91 days or older will be automatically purged from the e-mail system
on a continuing basis.
2. All electronic records, including e-mail, of the City are subject to the
retention requirements set out in the "Guidelines for the Retention of Council
Electronic Mail,"dated January 21,2003,(the "Guidelines")as set forth in Section
4 below,a copy of which is maintained in the City Clerk's Office.
a. For internal e-mails,that is,a-mails between City Council and City
staff, City staff will always be considered the custodian of the e-mail for
purposes of determining whether, and for how long, e-mail should be
retained under the Guidelines. For external e-mail communications,that is,
communications between Councilmembers and members of the public, the
Councilmembers sending or receiving the e-mail will be considered the
custodians who must make that determination. This determination as to
whether to retain e-mail must be made by Councilmembers no more than 90
days from the date of the e-mail so as to avoid the automatic deletion of e-
mail that should be saved. If a Councilmember determines that e-mail should
be retained under the Guidelines,the Councilmember must save the e-mail
as a disk file or print it out in hard copy for permanent filing.
b. If certain e-mail is not required to be retained under the Guidelines,
but a Councilmember nonetheless wishes to retain that e-mail for a period
exceeding 90 days, for easy reference or for convenience, the
Councilmember should again save the e-mail as a disk file or print it out in
hard copy form for permanent filing.
3. To enable the City to efficiently manage the retention of electronic
communications,the Mayor and Council members are encouraged to use the City's
e-mail system, rather than a private a-mail system. If a Council member or the
Mayor uses a private e-mail system to communicate regarding City business, the
City's system should be included as a copied recipient.
C. Guidelines for the Retention of Council E-Mail
For the purposes of this policy, e-mail will be considered to be a form of
correspondence, to be categorized and retained as follows:
• CaIendars and Notes-Retain until no longer needed
Description: Records kept to document and facilitate the routine planning
and scheduling of meetings, appointments, and similar activities; includes
calendars,appointment books,telephone messages,notes,diaries and similar
records with routine content.
• Transitory Value - Retain until material has been read or is no
longer needed for reference
Description: General documentation of extremely short-term value,
including advertisements, drafts and worksheets, desk notes, copies of
materials circulated for informational "read only" purposes, and other
records with preliminary or short-term informational value.
• Complaints, Routine Services Requests,and Citizen Petitions-
Retain for 90 days or until response or action has been taken by City
Description: Communications of various types that convey objections,
dissatisfaction or disagreement with actions or positions taken or not taken
by City;routine requests for service or information;petitions with no legal
effect that are submitted to the City to express the opinions of the signers;
and City's responses.
• Routine Value-Retain no longer than 90 days
Description: Operating documentation that is routine and contains no
significant administrative,legal,fiscal,historical,informational,orstatistical
value. Includes routine letters or memoranda sent and received,reading or
chronological tiles that are kept solely for convenience and contain
duplicates of memos or letters that are also filed elsewhere,routine requests
for information,transmittal documents that contain information of short term
value,etc.
• Long-Term Value-Retain permanently
Description: Documentation or correspondence with long-term
administrative,policy,legal,fiscal,historical or research value;records that
relate to policy issues and actions or activities in which an important
precedent is set; records of historic events relating to the City or the
community;records that document commitments made by the City;records
of issues that are expected to reoccur; and other similar records and
documentation.