HomeMy WebLinkAboutRetention Policy - County DocumentsDeschutes County Administrative Policy No. GA -18
Effective Date:
Retention of Original County Documents Policy
STATEMENT OF POLICY
It is the policy of Deschutes County that original documents, relating to a real estate
transaction or protection for an asset in which Deschutes County is a named party, be
retained at the County Clerk's Office. A list of such documents is provided below.
APPLICABILITY
This policy applies to all County departments and County service districts.
POLICY AND PROCEDURE
This policy is intended to provide a consistent procedure for retaining, tracking and
accessing critical County documents. The Clerk's Office responsibility includes the
storing, inventory, maintenance and retrieval of the identified documents only. The
originating department's responsibility is to ensure the rights, privileges or duties
pertaining to such documents are exercised in a timely manner.
Applicable documents: Agreements or documents where Deschutes County has
ownership of assets, indebtedness, and rights under contract. The Clerk's Office should
only receive documents identified in this policy to be placed in custody. These
documents are required or necessary by the County to exercise its rights or transfer
ownership and to protect the County against risk of loss.
The following list of original documents are to be retained in the Clerk's Office until
requested in accordance with OAR Chapter 166. Any determination as to the
applicability of a document to this policy will be determined by the County Administrator
or designee.
• Promissory Notes
• Trust Deeds
• Title Insurance Policies
• Improvement Agreements (with surety bonds — performance bonds, maintenance
bonds, subdivision bonds)
• Letters of Credit
• Contract (related to real property)
• Bill of Sale
Non -Applicable documents: All original contracts, agreements, notes or other
documents verifying the receipt or delivery of products or services or other monetary
transactions on the part of the Deschutes County not identified above shall be retained
by the originating department with a copy provided to the central contract file
Policy# GA -18, County Document Retention
maintained by Administrative Services . A further explanation for retention of these
documents are provided in the Grant, Contract and Agreement Policy.
Clerk's Process: The Clerk's Office will maintain a procedure to receive, retain, track and
access these documents. Departments will complete a cover sheet provided by the
Clerk's Office, including the following information:
• Document Description,
• Type of Document,
• Department Information — staff person and supervisor involved and related
reference numbers, as well as the level of authorized staff position (e.g.,
department manager, department supervisor, etc.) to whom the document can be
released.
• Any dates relevant to the document, including anticipated release date.
• Who will be notified on release (it is suggested that the County Administrator,
County Counsel and Finance Department be copied)
• Date received, and
• Any Document numbers/codes, if applicable.
The Clerk's Office staff and individual departments shall be diligent with documents
requiring protection under this policy. All documents shall be hand delivered to the
Clerk's Office. Interoffice delivery of these documents is prohibited. Clerk's Office will
time stamp a Request for Retention of an Original County Document by County Clerk
form (attached) and provide a copy back to the department. All documents will be
maintained in the County archives.
A request for retrieval of the original document from the Clerk's Office will require two
authorized signatures. Upon release of document, Clerk's Office will require an
authorized signature acknowledging receipt of the released document and notification
will be provided to the County Administrator, County Legal Counsel and Finance
Department. All retrieval requests will be completed within 24 hours or one business day.
Requests for prescheduled document retrieval may also be accepted.
Approved by the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners , 2008.
Dave Kanner
County Administrator
Policy# GA -18, County Document Retention
To:
From:
Date:
County Clerk's Office
Nancy Blankenship, County Clerk
1300 NW Wall St, Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960
Fax (541) 383-4424
Recording (541) 388-6549
Elections (541) 388-6547
www.co.deschutes.orus
(Use only one request per original document)
Request for Retention of an Original County Document by County Clerk
(Deschutes County Policy #GA -15)
Deschutes County Clerk, Recording Department
The following documents are placed in the Clerk's custody and may be later released to an authorized
person in accordance with Deschutes County Policy #GA -15:
Type of Document and
Document Description
Department Information
Relevant Date(s)
Document
Numbers/Codes
Authorized Staff:
Reference #s:
Release Notification: ❑ County Administration 0 County Legal Counsel❑ Finance Department
0
Release Request
Please release the above reference original document.
Ili% '1Authoriz
Signature:
Signature Acknowledging Receipt:
For Clerk's Use Onl
O Internal ID: ❑ Receipt Date
0 Date of Release
0 Notification of Release