Records Retention and Disposal

Retention Schedules

1. The retention schedules for the various county offices are available online at: https://apps.nd.gov/itd/recmgmt/rm/recSer/retention.pdf.
2. You can search by record series title (keywords), or by county office (using "County Government" as the Department, then specific office, i.e. "Auditor" in the Division field.)
3. In addition to an office's specific schedule, all offices should review the General Schedule, as it contains records that may be found in any office (i.e. bills, voucher, etc.).

Thre retention schedule should identify records currently retained by the county. Records retention schedules should be viewed for accuracy by asking the following questions:

• Are ALL of the records of the county office included?
• Have new programs or files been added to the records system that should be added to the retention schedule?
• Are there any records series that should be deleted?
• Are there any changes to the title, description or the retention values?

If the records are not accurately reflected, complete a SFN 2042 Records Series Description (found at https://www.nd.gov/eforms/Doc/sfn2042.pdf) to indicate any additions, changes, or deletions. Return the completed form to Sharon Freeman, sfreeman@nd.gov, at ITD Records Management.

Records Disposal 

According to North Dakota Century Code 54-46-12, counties may utilize approved retention schedules to dispose of records to comply with records management requirements.

The disposal dates are now embedded into each record series so you can see at a glance when records are eligible to be disposed. Disposals can occur throughout the year. As you do your records disposals, please continue to track and report the volume. This information is required for ITD to report to the Legislature. Each county office's current disposal report is available below. The forms contain columns for reporting total paper volumes (in inches) and/or electronic volumes (in megabytes) that were destroyed.

Please complete your office's 2020 annual disposal and return the "Certificate of Records Disposal" (excel file) to Cathy Heidt at cathy.heidt@ndaco.org by September 30, 2021.

If any records need to be transferred to the State Archives, please contact Shane Molander at 701-328-3570 or Ann Jenks at 701-328-2090 to make arrangements for the transfer. Electronic records require special procedures for transferring to the State Archives. See this information on the State Historical Society's website at http://history.nd.gov/archives/electronicrecords.html. A transfer of records to the State Archives will require extra time. Please be sure to schedule the transfer of records well in advance of the September 30th deadline. This will ensure that you complete your records disposal on time and that the State Archives has time to process the records.

If you have any questions/comments or need assistance with the disposal process, please contact Cathy at cathy.heidt@ndaco.org or 701-328-7305. Sharon Freeman should be contaced for specific questions about the retention schedules and changes that may be needed. She can be reached at sfreeman@nd.gov or 701-328-3579.