State Records
Management Manual for Illinois State Agencies
The efficient and economical
maintenance of records is one of the most important responsibilities
of workers at all levels of government. The necessity of government
units to maintain adequate documentation of their functions has
resulted in great expenditures of time, money and space. Government
agency records account for the disbursement of millions of dollars,
protect the rights of citizens, and document important legal
decisions.
The State Records Act of 1957
addresses many records management concerns and recognizes two major
problem areas concerning the retention of records.
- Inadvertent
or premature destruction of state records causes great harm to
the state by:
- causing the interruption of
essential services to Illinois citizens,
- allowing the expenditure of
public funds to be less accountable,
- causing the destruction of
permanently valuable records.
- Maintenance
of all state records without regard to their relative importance
to current and future operations places an expensive and
unnecessary burden on state agencies.
The State Records Act places three
major responsibilities on state agencies:
- No record shall be disposed of by
any agency of the state, unless the approval of the State
Records Commission is first obtained.
- The head of each agency shall
establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the
economical and efficient management of records of the agency.
- The head of each agency shall
submit to the Commission, lists or schedules of records in his
custody that are not needed in the transaction of public
business and do not warrant further preservation.
The State Records Act authorizes the
Secretary of State to provide the expertise and technical assistance
necessary for state agencies to properly manage their records. The
Secretary provides this service through the Illinois State Archives,
Records Management Section. The purpose of this manual is to outline
the full range of records management assistance available from the
Records Management Section-State Records Unit, and the steps
necessary for agencies to follow in setting up a Records Management
Program for their own organization, in compliance with the State
Records Act and the Regulations of the State Records Commission.
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