GENE BERGHOFF

From the desk of:

Executive Vice President

By Eugene Berghoff

We have recently received a number of inquiries concerning the legal procedures to be followed for units of local government in disposing of official records.

The Local Record Unit, Illinois State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, has provided the following information:

Procedures for Disposition of Records

Contact the Local Records Unit when ready to discuss retention and destruction of records. Local Records Unit, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Illinois 62756. Telephone: (217) 782-7075.

A Field Representative of the Local Records Unit, Office of the Secretary of State, will contact the head of the agency to discuss the retention schedule pertaining to records which should be retained, microfilmed, destroyed, or microfilmed and destroyed. He will explain the procedure to follow in inventorying the records and how to prepare an inventory work sheet. He will also assist the agency in taking the inventory or records if the agency requests this service.

The agency will forward an inventory work sheet to the Local Records Unit along with three (3) signed application forms, and a sample document for each record series, which will be filed as a permanent record of the Local Records Unit. Blank forms and explanatory statements may be submitted in place of original documents for confidential-type records.

After the application receives Commission approval, a copy will be forwarded to the agency along with Records Disposal Certificate forms.

After disposing of the records approved on the application, the Records Disposal Certificate forms must be prepared and forwarded to the State office. The field representative will explain the procedure to be followed for future disposition of records which have been previously approved by the Commission for disposal.

Any inquiries regarding disposition of records should be directed to the Local Records Unit, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.

A booklet containing the Local Records Act and Local Records Commission Regulations is available upon request.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 3 May/June, 1976