This
measure assesses whether the court’s records management system preserves
information about closed cases consistent with State law and sound records
management principles. Information concerning relevant laws and principles
can be obtained through discussions with the person or persons responsible
for court records. The purpose of the discussion is to determine what files
must be preserved, for how long, and what, if any, regulations must be
observed regarding the media used for storage. The discussion should
determine if the requirements for storage are based on a records retention
schedule, informal practices, or a combination of both.
Planning/Preparation.
To prepare for this measure, courts can use the two sets of closed cases
proposed for Measure 3.6.1, Reliability of the
File Control System. These sets include cases both on site and in storage.
Data
Collection.
Please refer to Form 3.6.2,
Illustrative Data Collection Form: Adequate Storage and Preservation of
Physical Records, for an example to be reviewed and modified as necessary.
Note that items 1, 2, 3, and 4 on Form 3.6.2 also appear on Form 3.6.1. As a
result, a court can combine the two forms if it chooses to apply both
measures.
Data
Analysis and Report Preparation.
A summary of the information from individual data collection forms can be
used to address several key questions: Can files be located, are they in
their proper location, are they stored in their proper form, and is the
required information preserved?
