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Home My WebLink About2023-039 - Res. Adopting a Scan and Toss Policy RESOLUTION NO. 202Z-0301 A RESOLUTION ADDING A CHAPTER TO THE MASON COUNTY CODE TITLE 2 ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL ADOPTING A SCAN AND TOSS POLICY WHEREAS, RCW 40.14, Preservation and Destruction of Public Records defines and classifies public records and sets out the requirements for maintaining, preserving and destroying of public records in accordance with State Records Retention Schedules,and defines the functions, duties and responsibilities of the State Archivist; and WHEREAS, WAC 434-662, Preservation of Electronic Public Records, provides for the secure preservation of electronic records for their minimum retention period for present and future access and/or transfer to the Washington state digital archives for retention so that valuable legal and historical records of the state may be centralized, made more widely available, and permanently preserved; and WHEREAS, WAC 434-663, Imaging Systems, Standards for Accuracy and Durability, sets out the requirements for imaging source documents and the requirements for maintaining imaged documents in accordance with the Washing State Archivist Retention schedules; and WHEREAS, the State Archivist on May 15, 2012, published the Requirements for Destruction of Non-Archival Paper Records After Imaging (Version 1.1); and WHEREAS,in the interest of creating efficiencies in the management of its public records, Mason County wishes to adopt a Scan and Toss Policy in compliance with and meeting the requirements of RCW 40.14, WAC 434-662, WAC 434-663 and the State Archivist requirements for imaging and destruction of non-archival records, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Commissioners of Mason County to amend Mason County Code Title 2 Administration and Personnel adding the Scan and Toss Policy as shown as "Attachment A". DATED this \1'1`of , 2023. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ATTEST: MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON McKenzie Sm , CleA of the Board Rd.dy Neatherlin, Commissioner APPROVED AS TO FORM: Kevin Shutty, C06 issioner Tim tehead, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sharon Trask, Commissioner Pagel of 8 Attachment A MASON COUNTY IMAGING AND DESTRUCTION OF PAPER RECORDS (SCAN AND TOSS) POLICY A. PURPOSE The purpose of this policy is to outline the requirements Mason County shall meet to lawfully destroy paper-based source records after they have been converted to a digital format by imaging (scanning). & REFERENCES • Washington State Records Retention Schedules • RCW 40.14 Preservation and Destruction of Public Records • WAC Chapter 434-662 Preservation of Electronic Records • WAC Chapter 434-663 Imaging Systems, Standards for Accuracy and Durability. C. DEFINITIONS 1. "Archival records" are those public records of state and local government agencies which are determined by the state archivist as having continuous historical value and must be permanently preserved and have been or may be transferred to the custody of the State division of archives after their approved retention has been met. 2. "Lossless compression" recreates a compressed file as an identical match to its original form. All lossless compression uses techniques to break up a file into smaller segments, for storage or transmission, that get reassembled later. 3. "Lossy compression" is a technique that does not decompress data back to one hundred percent (100%) of the original. Lossy methods provide high degrees of compression and result in smaller compressed files, but there is a certain amount of visual loss when restored. D. POLICY It is the policy of Mason County to comply with state requirements when destroying paper- based source records after they have been converted to a digital format by imaging (scanning). E. PROCEDURE 1. "Scan and Toss" Checklist a. Departments shall complete the "Scan and Toss" Checklist and retain a digital copy in their records. The checklist shall be signed by the department head or designee: Page 2 of 8 b. If there_are questions,please contact the Public Records Coordinator or designee prior to the destruction of paper records. 2. The disposition authority number(DAN) for NON-ARCHIVAL paper records that have been scanned and then are to be destroyed is GS50-09-14. 3. Records Eligible for"Scanning and Tossing" a. Only"NON-ARCHIVAL"records are eligible for early destruction after scanning. The County shall use only records retention schedules approved for its use by the Local Records Committee in accordance with RCW 40.14.070. Current approved records retention schedules for local government agencies are available on Washington State Archives' website at www.sos.wa.gov/archives. 4. Scanning Requirements a. Records SHALL be scanned and verified in a systematic and consistent fashion that ensures a complete and accurate copy of the source record. Records that are not completely and accurately captured must not be destroyed. b. Scanning/Imaging Requirements The County adopts the following quality control procedures and work instructions to ensure a consistent capture of complete and accurate copies of original records. All staff with scanning responsibilities shall be trained to ensure that they are familiar with these requirements and procedures.- (Per Washington State archives —Agencies are not required to use any specific systems, applications, or scanners) Specific quality control procedures include: • Enhancements or other manipulations of the scanned images (such as de- skew, de-speckle, etc.)to improve the quality of the resulting image. - • Routine use of scanning targets to verify configuration settings. • Visual comparisons and inspections of each imaged record and source document, or of selected images and source documents. • Regular calibration and testing of systems and scanners. • Periodic checks that the indexing/metadata is accurate and appropriate. • In instances where a complete and accurate image cannot be obtained and verified,the source document shall be retained for the entire minimum retention period (and the image should be labeled or tagged as "best scan possible".). • In instances where the content of the source document is not completely legible (faded.receipt, coffee stain covering information, etc.),the source document shall be retained for the entire minimum retention period. If the image is more legible than the source documents, retention of the source Page 3 of 8 document is not necessary. If vendors are doing the imaging, they shall comply with the requirements as specified in this policy. 5. Formatting Requirements a. There are some differences between the most commonly used formats. Formats are subject to changes and updates, and newer versions may not always be backwards compatible or be suitable for long-term preservations. b. Short-term records (6 years or fewer) either a lossless or lossy image format may be used. Acceptable file formats are: • TIFF, PNG • PDF, PDF/A • JPEG, JPEG 2000 c. Long-term records (more than 6 years) require lossless image formats to ensure preservation. The current recommended formats are: • TIFF [Group 4 for Black& White (bitonal) images; Group 5 for grayscale and color images] • PNG • For"ARCHIVAL" images that are to be transferred to Washington State Digital Archives,the recommended format is TIFF (Group 4 or Group 5 for scanned images) • If a department chooses to use data compression to save space, a lossless compression method must be used for long-term records OUTPUT DENSITY Black&White (Bitonal) Minimum of 200 DPI fonts no smaller than 6-point) Recommended 300 DPI Black& White (Bitonal) (maps, engineering drawings, and other Minimum of 300 DPI documents containing fonts smaller than 6- Recommended 300 DPI point, fine detail, or poor contrast Grayscale 8-bit Minimum of 200 DPI Recommended 300 DPI Color 24-bit RGB Minimum of 150 DPI Recommended 300 DPI 6. Requirements for Organizing, Indexing, and Metadata a. Indexing is a way to attach metadata that facilitates access, retrieval, and management of information. Developing a consistent structure is key to managing and maintaining images. Page 4 of 8 b. Departments should develop consistent naming conventions and file/directory structures to facilitate organization, identification, access and retrieval for users. c. Departments should capture appropriate business and recordkeeping metadata [such as type of record, Disposition Authority Number (DAN), destruction date, etc.] 7. Requirements for Managing, Storing, and Retaining Images a. Images SHALL be stored,maintained and accessible for the entire length of the required retention period. Departments should factor in not only the retention period(e.g., six years), but also the trigger or the cut-off that starts the retention clock. For example, a record with a minimum retention of"six.years after life of building"would likely be retained for much longer than just six years. b. Departments SHALL retain legal custody of the imaged records. If Departments choose to use outside(including other government agencies and "cloud" storage, but excluding Washington State Archives)to store/host the imaged records: • Contracts/agreements shall require that legal custody of the records remains with the originating agency and that all imaged records (including associated metadata)be returned to the agency, in a format accessibly by the agency, at the end of the contract/agreement. • Departments should undertake appropriate mitigation strategies to ensure that they can fully recover records (including associated.metadata)which have not met their minimum retention period in the event of a vendor failure. c. Imaged records SHALL be protected against alteration and/or deletion, damage, or loss throughout the entire retention period. Specific protective measures may include, but are not limited to: • Establishment of security protocols, and approved administrators and users • Employment of system check and error-checking utilities • Implementation of back-ups and disaster preparedness measures • Storage of a regular backup at least 50 miles off-site to enable recovery and access to the imaged records in the event of a.wide-spread disaster or emergency d. Imaged records SHALL remain accessible for the minimum retention period. To address technology changes, agencies are to.either: • Maintain the ability to retrieve and view_imaged records in systems and file formats that the agency is currently using; or, • Migrate or export the record images (including associated metadata)to succeeding systems and file formats throughout their required retention periods Page 5 of 8 8. Destruction Requirements a. Imaged records are to be destroyed only after the minimum required retention period as specified by the approved records retention schedule currently in effect. b. Records SHALL NOT be destroyed when required for: • Existing public records request in accordance with chapter 442.56 RCW; or, • Ongoing or reasonably anticipated litigation; or, • Other legal requirements, federal statues, grant agreements, etc.; or, • Archival transfer c. If changes to the records retention schedules have occurred between the digitizing of the record and their planned destruction, and those changes have altered the minimum retention period (or the ARCHIVAL designation) of the imaged records, departments shall follow the current approved retention schedule. d. Departments should follow defensible disposition practices for the destruction of imaged records. This includes following a regular and systematic schedule for destruction processes. These practices should be consistent with the Washington Secretary of State Archives and Records Management procedures for the lawful destruction of public records in other formats. e. Departments shall document the destruction of both paper and scanned records. • Documenting the destruction of public records, including scanned images, provides departments with evidence to prove that the records were retained for at least the minimum retention periods. • Departments shall document that the paper was converted and destroyed lawfully under the appropriate disposition authority, and that the images are also destroyed lawfully once the retention requirements have been met. 9. Archival Paper Records Disposition after Imaging a. "ARCHIVAL"records SHALL NOT be destroyed. The County may scan"ARCHIVAL"records in accordance with state requirements and this policy. However, after imaging is completed and verified, the department shall arrange for appraisal and/or transfer of both the paper and the images to Washington State Archives for preservation. Copies of the current approved records retention schedules are found on the Washington State Archives website: www.sos.wa.gov/archives. If there are questions,please contact the Public Records Coordinator or designee for assistance. b. Do NOT destroy ARCHIVAL paper records after scanning. Page 6 of 8 • Departments can image paper records which have been designated as Archival (including Potentially Archival). • However, departments SHALL NOT destroy these paper records after scanning, even if the department is following the state law"scanning" requirements and this policy. 10.Additional advice regarding the management of public records is available from Washington State Archives: www.sos.wa.gov/archives or recordsmana eg mentnsos.wa.gov. F. RESPONSIBILITIES The Public Records Coordinator shall administer this policy. JAPolicies\Scanning Policy\Scan.Toss.policy-and-procedure.Final.docz Page 7 of 8 MASON COUNTY SCAN& TOSS CHECKLIST/APPROVAL FORM Department: Date: Contact Name: Phone: Disposition Date Range of Records Authority No. Records Series Title Requested for DAN Destruction 1. ARE THE RECORDS ELIGIBLE? ❑ Only"NON-ARCHIVAL"records are eligible for early destruction after scanning. 2. ARE THE RECORDS BEING SCANNED TO ENSURE A COMPLETE AND ACCURATE COPY? ❑ Quality control procedures implemented to ensure capture of complete and accurate copies. ❑ Short-term records(6 years or fewer) imaged with an acceptable file format such as PDF,PDF/A, JPEG or TIFF. ❑ Long-term records(longer than 6 years) imaged with an acceptable lossless file format such as TIFF or PNG. ❑ Black&White(bitonal)documents containing fonts no smaller than 6-point and grayscale records scanned with a resolution of at least 200 dpi. ❑ Black&White(bitonal)maps, engineering drawings, and other bitonal documents containing fonts smaller than 6-point, fine detail, or poor contrast, scanned with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. ❑ Color records scanned with a resolution of at least 150 dpi. (300 dpi recommended) 3. ARE IMAGES ACCESSIBLE AND PROTECTED FOR THE ENTIRE REQUIRED RETENTION PERIOD? ❑ Appropriate steps taken to protect images from deletion, alteration, or other damage/loss. ❑ Appropriate planning and strategies implemented for migration and technology changes. ❑ Appropriate index methodology to search documents. APPROVALS: Department Records Management Coordinator Date Supervisor/Director/Records Officer Date Page 8 of 8