3.105 Retention and destruction of records (4/4/12).
(1) Intent, Construction, Severability. It is the intention of this ordinance that the welfare of the public be promoted by efficient use of the limited space in county buildings; that public records be kept, until they are obsolete, by economical methods; that the Historical Society of the State of Wisconsin be given possession of any records the county no longer needs which such Society desires; that obsolete public records be efficiently destroyed without undue storage. This ordinance should be liberally construed to give effect to its purpose. It is intended that this ordinance be interpreted to be consistent with the applicable state and federal law. This ordinance is separable, if any portion of this law is declared invalid, it shall not affect the validity of the balance of this law.
(2) Definitions. In this ordinance,
(a) Public record. “Public record” means any material, document, writing, photograph or other property required to be kept by a county official under Chapter 19 of the Wisconsin Statutes dealing with the custody of official property.
(b) Obsolete public records. “Obsolete public records” means those records which because of their age and content have become useless or nonfunctional both to the general public and the administrators of county government.
(3) Notice to Historical Society. Unless waiver is expressed by the Wisconsin Historical Society prior to the destruction of any public records, notice by mail shall be given to the State Historical Society and such society shall be offered the records under consideration as in sec. 19.21 of the Wisconsin Statutes, in the Uniform County Schedule or otherwise, at least 60 days before destruction. If such society accepts the offer within said 60 days, custody and title of the records shall be transferred from the county to the society.
(4) Adoption of Uniform County Records Retention/Disposition Schedule. In recognition of the benefits of the thorough listing of categories for over 1,000 types of county records, the shorter retention time periods approved, the waiver of the duty to offer the records about to be destroyed to the State Historical Society 60 days beforehand for the great majority of categories listed, and to receive updated schedules when approved by the Records Board, and to allow consistency among the 72 counties, Kenosha County hereby adopts the Wisconsin Public Records Board approved COUNTY RECORDS RETENTION/DISPOSITION SCHEDULE, as amended from time to time. The current version is set forth in attached Addenda “A-F”. [Code § 3.645.]