Documents in electronic mail format are records as defined by the Ohio Revised Code when their content relates to the business of the city. E-mail is to be treated in the same fashion as records in other formats and should follow the same retention schedules.
(a) Records in private e-mail accounts used to conduct public business are subject to disclosure, and all employee or representatives of this city are instructed to retain their e-mails that relate to public business (see § 208.02) and to copy them to their business e-mail accounts and/or to the subject office’s records custodian.
(b) Each records custodian is to treat the e-mails from private accounts as records of the city, filing them in the appropriate way, retaining them per established schedules and making them available for inspection and copying in accordance with the Public Records Act, being Ohio R.C. §§ 149.43 et seq.
(Ord. 07-O-2406, passed 10-16-2007)