Records Basics

All state agencies are required to establish and maintain a records management program under § 24-80-102.7 C.R.S.

(2) Each state agency shall:

(a) Establish and maintain a records management program for the state agency and document the policies and procedures of such program. The state agency shall ensure that such program satisfies the administrative and technical procedures for records maintenance and management established by the state archivist pursuant to section 24-80-102 (12).

(b) Designate a records liaison officer or officers from the state agency's existing personnel to cooperate with and assist and advise the state archivist in the performance of the duties and functions concerning state archives and records and to provide such other assistance and data that will enable the department of personnel to properly carry out its activities and implement the purposes of this part 1. 

CDOR's Records Management Program Goals

• Control the Creation, Growth, and Destruction of Records

• Manage Resources and Reduce Operating Costs

• Ensure Regulatory and Statutory Compliance

• Appropriately manage legal risk by demonstrating compliance with the program

• Support Management Decision Making, including by preserving "institutional memory"

Article 80 of Title 24 provides an overview of State Archives and Public Records in its Part 1, including a definition of ‘record’ under § 24-80-101 C.R.S.

(2) "Records" means all books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any governmental agency in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by the agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the government or because of the value of the official governmental data contained therein. 

Information meeting this definition must be maintained as a state record in accordance with State Archives' Adopted State Retention Schedule. Each division or unit within CDOR should have its own SA-194 that identifies all record series it has and applies the appropriate retention based on the adopted state schedule. This SA-194 serves as the division's retention schedule for its records. 

…(T)he following are excluded from the definition of records:

(a) Materials that are not made or received by any governmental agency in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business but that are preserved or appropriate for preservation because of the value of the data contained therein or because of the historical value of the materials themselves;

(b) Library books, pamphlets, newspapers, or museum material made, acquired, or preserved for reference, historical, or exhibition purposes;

(c) Private papers, manuscripts, letters, diaries, pictures, biographies, books, and maps, including materials and collections previously owned by persons who are not associated with a governmental agency and that are transferred by the previous owners to the state historical society;

(d) Extra copies of publications or duplicated documents preserved for convenience of reference;

(e) Stocks of publications; and

(f) Electronic mail messages, regardless of whether such messages are produced or stored using state-owned equipment or software, 

unless the recipient has previously segregated and stored such messages as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the government or because of the value of the official governmental data contained therein.

The Colorado Open Records Act, or CORA, contains a different definition of public records for purposes of determining the availablity of public records.

Under CORA:

“Public records” means and includes all writings made, maintained, or kept by the state (or) any agency ... for use in the exercise of functions required or authorized by law or administrative rule or involving the receipt or expenditure of public funds.

More plainly, a public record is any writing that you create, keep, or store as part of your job.

And what are writings?

“Writings” means and includes all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics. “Writings” includes digitally stored data, including without limitation electronic mail messages, but does not include computer software.

Think of writings as information you can make and keep in any format about your work. And remember, all writings are subject to CORA.

Always remember any time data or information is maintained and in a format that meets the definition of public records in CORA, it is potentially requestable and publicly releasable.

The Uniform Records Retention Act applies to business records of all entities in the state, including state agencies. It defines records and reproductions and outlines what records need to be created and kept.

From C.R.S. § 6-17-103: 

(2) "Record" means any letter, word, sound, number, or its equivalent, set down by handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, magnetic impulse, mechanical, or electronic recording of other forms of data compilation. Unless otherwise specified, reproductions are records for purposes of this article. 

(3) "Reproduction" means any counterpart produced by the same impression as the original or from the same matrix, or by means of photography, including enlargements and miniatures, or by mechanical or electronic rerecording or by chemical reproduction or by any equivalent technique which accurately reproduces the original.