Records Management
Distinguishing Between the Different Types of Retention Period Requirements
When trying to determine if a record is eligible for destruction, you need to be aware of the different types of retention requirements. A record with a retention of "3 years" will have a different eligibility date than those records with "3 fiscal years" or "3 calendar years" retention requirements.
There are three types of retention requirements that apply to "years":
Anniversary (years) - from a specific date Example: 3 years
If a record has a "3 year" retention, the eligibility date would be 3 years after the ending date of the record.
Calendar - January 1st thru December 31st Example: 3 calendar years
If a record has a "3 calendar year" retention, the eligibility date would be 3 years after the end of the calendar year that the last record applies.
Fiscal Example: 3 fiscal years
School districts - July 1st thru June 30th
Local - October 1st thru September 30th
If a record has a "3 fiscal year" retention, the eligibility date would be 3 years after the end of the fiscal year that the last record applies.
Other types of retentions
Months or days Example: 3 months or 90 days
OSA - Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is lost.
With this retention, a record is eligible for destruction whenever it is no longer of any use or value. It could vary from 5 years after creation of the record to the day that it was created.
Specific - life of structure, etc.
