Record Transfer Procedures

Contact the County Records and Information Manager for permission to transfer records to the Records Center. If permission is given, the County Records and Information Manager will alert the Records Center that boxes from your office are to be expected.

Records must be packed in standard, cubic-foot Records Center boxes available through the Stockroom. This is for standardization, efficiency, cost savings and the safety of the Records Center staff. No other box, such as copy paper boxes, "decorative" or large commercial boxes will be accepted.

Pack the boxes as follows:

• Pack the boxes as if they were file drawers, in the same order in which they are maintained as active files, with file folders all facing the same direction.
• Limit the contents of each box to a single records series as itemized and described on the office's Records Retention Schedule.
• Leave two inches of space in each box to allow for the easy retrieval of files. Every effort should be made to locate and pack all records in the series to be shipped to the Records Center.
• Please do not over pack the box so that the lid does not go down firmly or so the sides bulge. Over packed boxes can burst open in transport. Over packed boxes also will not fit on the Records Center's shelving.
• Please do not lay additional files on top of the packed files.
• File all loose paperwork for the records prior to shipment.

In the grid on the outside of the box, mark the name of your office, the record series name (as itemized on your Records Retention Schedule), the dates of the records (or the case file numbers) and the number of the box shipped (i.e. Box 3 or Box 3 of 20).

Prepare an inventory listing the box number and contents of each box. Keep a copy of the inventory for your records. Forward another copy to the Records Center. The Records Center staff will use the inventory to input each box into the Center's index and to determine each box's disposal date. Completing the inventory to the best of your ability insures that eh Records Center can easily retrieve files and dispose of the records.

Once boxes are ready for shipment and the inventory has been completed, contact the County Records and Information Manager with the number of boxes to be transferred. The County Records and Information Manager will then arrange with Facilities Management to have the records picked up. Please keep in mind that the weather, the lack of an available truck or other building issues may delay the pick-up.

Keep the boxes in a safe, designated area until shipment. Boxes and records that have been allowed to become wet will not be accepted for storage at the Records Center. These records are considered hazardous to the safety of the Records Center staff and the other records in the Center.

Failure to follow the above procedures could result in the cancellation of the pick-up of an office's records. If the boxes are found to be unacceptable once they have arrived at the Records Center, personnel from the originating office may be required to come to the Records Center to re-pack or re-inventory the records.