Email as a Public Record

Email messages can have administrative, fiscal, legal, reference, and/or archival value. These records may contain evidence of a particular action, have information that protects the rights of individuals or the government, document decisions made during the course of state business, or have lasting historical or cultural value. While email system administrators are responsible for system security and performance, individual users are responsible for managing state records effectively and efficiently, regardless of the technology used to create the records.

Managing Retention and Disposition

Public employees in both state and local government who use email as part of their work are responsible for keeping or destroying messages following the terms of a records retention and disposition schedule. Government employees should refer to the record schedule that applies their level of government (state, local, or university) for specific details.

Public employees are required to be familiar with and comply with all applicable record-keeping practices and responsibilities mandated by their agency, the State CIO, their records retention and disposition schedules, or other official guidelines or policies to understand email’s function in relation to carrying out those duties. Should an agency or local entity lack an approved records retention and disposition schedule, it may not destroy or otherwise dispose of any records in its custody, whether in electronic, paper, or other format (including email), which are not so authorized by one of the schedules referred to above. 

Please consult the records analyst for your institution for additional information regarding your record schedule.

Classifying Email Messages

Not every email message that enters or leaves an email system is a public record as defined by North Carolina General Statute (N.C.G.S.) 132. An email is considered to be a public record when made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions. North Carolina General Statutes (N.C.G.S.) §121-2(8) and §132-1(a) provide the following definition:

“Public record” or “public records” shall mean all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions.

Some examples of email messages that are public records include:

• policies or directives;
• final drafts or reports and recommendations;
• correspondence and memos related to official business;
• work schedules and assignments;
• meeting agendas or minutes;
• any document or message that initiates, facilitates, authorizes, or completes a business transaction; and
• messages that create a precedent, such as issuing instructions or advice.

If an e-mail message is not created or received as part of the business of government, it is considered to be non-record material. Examples include:

• Personal messages are those received from family, friends, or work colleagues which have nothing to do with conducting daily government business. However, all employees should understand that information on the State’s email system is subject to public review and should not assume their messages are private.
• Spam is completely unsolicited, unwanted, and unrelated to the transaction of state business. It is considered to be non-record material.
• Unsolicited emails are messages that may be unwanted, but are somewhat business related. These could include non work-related email messages from coworkers such as miscellaneous news articles, non-work related announcements, etc. As with personal messages, these should be deleted in a timely manner.

State Agencies and Capstone

For state agencies, the State Archives is adopting the National Archives' capstone approach to email management. This means we consider the role or position within an agency rather than the individual emails to determine whether that position produces correspondence with long-term historical value. These positions are typically agency leadership, division heads, or other positions that oversee core functions of an agency. Capstone positions are identified through a discussion between the agency, their Chief Records Officer, and their records analyst. The State Archives will retain a list of those positions for each agency and will work with either the N.C. Department of Information Technology or the agency's internal IT department to transfer emails from accounts identified as capstone on a schedule agreed on by all parties.

Most state employees' positions will not be considered capstone, but all state employees are are responsible for identifying email with long-term value and adhering to the retention period listed in the Functional Schedule.