Destruction of Records

W.Va. Code §5A-8-17 states that no record shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by any agency of the state, unless it is determined by the Administrator and the Director of the Section of Archives that the record has no further administrative, legal, fiscal, research or historical value.

No records shall be destroyed without an approved records retention and disposal schedule which contains the record type you are seeking to destroy.

To seek approval to destroy any records, you must provide an Authorization to Destroy Records containing the records series number, series title, inclusive date of the records and the volume of records you wish to destroy. The request should be sent to recordsmanagement@wv.gov or provided to donna.m.lipscomb@wv.gov  You will be informed once the approval is granted.

It is imperative that records containing any Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or confidential information be destroyed through secure shredding. All destruction of records by the State Records Center or by a vendor must be done by secure shredding to assure there will be no breach of data.

The preferred method for destruction of records is by the State Records Center as this is the most cost effective method.  However, the state has two statewide contracts for destruction services. Those are Records Management Services (RECMGT) provided by Iron Mountain Information Management for destruction of only those records that are housed in their facility and the State Use Approved Commodities and Services (WVARF) with services provided by PACE for records that are not currently in the Iron Mountain facility.  See the contracts below for services, pricing, and ordering instructions.  For requests for destruction by the State Records Center, just email staterecordscenter@wv.gov.

Records Management Services (RECMGT)​​​​​​​

State Use Approved Commodities and Services (WVARF)