(Revised May 2007) Section 5.C

Section 5.C -- Retention of Records

• Accounting and Fiscal Records
• Administrative Records
• Office Management Records
• Personnel Records
• Reference Materials
• Reports
• 4-H Records

It is important that you become familiar with the filing system in your office so that you will be able to help the public when they come into the office and request a publication.

Records are retained for specific purposes. When the purpose no longer exists, the records should no longer be stored. Records included and summarized in other documents should not be separately stored, for example, monthly reports summarized in annual reports and election records included in annual reports. Records kept permanently by the state office generally do not need to be kept indefinitely in the county office, such as expense vouchers.

The following file retention schedule will assist you and other staff in determining how long to keep records and other information in your office.

Accounting and Fiscal Records
Type of Record	Retention Time in Years	Comments
Account books	Permanent
Bank records	5
Budgets	Permanent
County work budget	Permanent	In account book/on file.
Financial reports	Permanent	In account book/on file.
Other financial records	5
Petty cash records	5
Semiannual analysis	5
Travel expense vouchers	5

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Administrative Records
Type of Record	Retention Time in Years	Comments
Administrative memoranda	Review annually.	Dispose as obsolete.
Correspondence, nonreference		Dispose at convenience.
Correspondence, reference	Permanent	Dispose as obsolete.
Forms		Dispose as superseded.
Travel authorizations	Current year	Dispose at end of year after claim is paid.
Election records	Permanent	In annual report, or other manner; not both.
Leadership lists	Permanent	In annual report or other; not both.
Advisory group minutes
Procedure manuals and policy statements	Until superseded.

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Office Management Records
Type of Record	Retention Time in Years	Comments
Inventory records	2 (after list is superseded)	Be sure to add items as purchased.
Office equipment records	6
Purchasing records	One after fiscal

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Personnel Records
Type of Record	Retention Time in Years	Comments
Accident Reports, injuries, etc.	5	State office keeps university employees.
Applications, changes, terminations, etc.	5	State office keeps university employees.
Equal opportunity records	Indefinitely
Employee personnel files	Permanent	At supervisor's level and in state office.
Job Applications	2	In county files.
Job descriptions	Until superseded.
Evaluations	Permanent	In personnel files.
Training materials	Until superseded or usefulness over.
Recognition and education records	Permanent	In personnel files.
Wage hour reports	Five years after payment

 

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Reference Materials
Type of Record	Retention Time in Years	Comments
Bulletins	Review annually.	Dispose as obsolete.
Commercial materials	Review annually.	Dispose as obsolete.
Newsletters (incoming)
Newsletters (outgoing)	Current plus one
News articles	Current plus one
Radio and TV scripts	Current plus one
Speeches	Current plus one

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Reports
Type of Record	Retention Time in Years	Comments
Daily program reports		Dispose of monthly.
Weekly program reports		Dispose of annually.
Monthly program reports	2
Annual reports	Permanent	Dispose of other records that duplicate content.
Longtime program records	10
Logs of family visits (ENP)	3
Annual plan or program of work	5
Bulk Mail Sheets	3	Retain in county files.
Data sheets	2

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4-H Records
Type of Record	Retention Time in Years	Comments
Annual Enrollment Cards/Forms	3
Local Membership Records	Permanent
Annual Statisticals	Permanent
Leadership Lists	Permanent
Committee Lists	Permanent
Publication orders	Current plus one
Awards and Recognitions	Permanent
Out-of-county Trips and Events	Current plus six
Committee Minutes	10
Affirmative Action Materials	Until audit
Event and Activity Files	3
Medical Information/Release form	3
Incident Report forms	3

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Revised May 8, 2007. Content questions? Ask the experts.
Comments or suggestions? Contact the committee, (e-mail: ofcguide@iastate.edu)