The timely and appropriate destruction of records is an essential component of effective records management. Records should be retained only for the period required by approved retention schedules and should be disposed of in a secure manner once they have met all retention requirements.
Timely Disposal of Records
In accordance with Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S. 24-80-103), Colorado public agencies are responsible for disposing of records that no longer have administrative, legal, fiscal, or historical value. Authorization for the destruction of Fort Lewis College records is obtained through compliance with the Colorado State Archives Records Management Manual, Schedule No. 8 – Higher Education.
Retention schedules establish the minimum period that records must be maintained. Unless there is a compelling reason to retain records longer—such as a legal hold, audit, investigation, or open records request—records should be disposed of promptly after their retention requirements have been satisfied. Retaining records beyond their required retention period may increase legal risk, storage costs, and administrative burden.
Unauthorized Destruction
The unauthorized destruction of public records is prohibited by Colorado law. Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S. 18-8-114) identifies the unlawful destruction, concealment, removal, or impairment of public records as tampering, which may result in criminal penalties.
Records should never be destroyed without verifying that:
- The applicable retention period has expired.
- The records are not subject to a legal hold, audit, investigation, or open records request.
- Destruction is consistent with College policies and approved retention schedules.
Destruction of Confidential Records
Many records created and maintained by Fort Lewis College contain confidential or sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, financial information, educational records protected under FERPA, personnel information, and other data exempt from public disclosure.
Records containing confidential or protected information must be destroyed in accordance with appropriate retention schedules in a manner that prevents unauthorized access or disclosure. Approved methods of destruction include:
- Cross-cut shredding.
- Secure destruction through an approved confidential records disposal vendor.
- Other methods that render the information permanently unreadable and unrecoverable.
Departments should consult with the College Records Manager regarding the appropriate destruction methods for confidential records.
Records that do not contain confidential information may be recycled or disposed of through standard waste procedures, provided that all retention requirements have been met.
Legal Holds and Pending Investigations
Records that may be relevant to litigation, audits, investigations, public records requests, accreditation reviews, or other legal actions must not be destroyed, even if their retention period has expired.
Fort Lewis College employees are responsible for notifying the College Records Manager immediately upon becoming aware of any actual or potential litigation, investigation, audit, or other matter that may require the preservation of records. This requirement applies even when Fort Lewis College is involved only as a third party.
Upon notification and in consultation with appropriate College officials, the destruction of potentially relevant records will be suspended until the legal hold has been lifted and authorization to resume normal disposition activities has been provided.