Documents in electronic mail format are records as defined by the Ohio Revised Code when their content relates to the business of the office. 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 employees or representatives of this office are instructed to retain their e-mails that relate to public business (see Section 209.02 Public Records) and to copy them to their business e-mail accounts or print a hard copy of said e-mail and retain in the same fashion as other records.
(b) E-mails from private accounts are to be treated as records of the public office, and should be filed in the appropriate way, retaining them per established schedules and making them available for inspection and copying in accordance with the Public Records Act.
(c) Both the sender and the recipient of any e-mail that relates to public business are equally responsible for maintaining proper records retention.
(Ord. 08-21. Passed 5-5-08; Ord. 10-45. Passed 11-15-10.)