The State Records Center (SRC) is a secure, low-cost facility that offers State agencies and local units of government off-site control over semi-active and inactive records. The SRC's primary function is to serve agency needs for records maintenance, security, and disposition.
Mission:
Develop and implement a comprehensive state-wide records management program to ensure records are maintained and retrievable until their authorized disposition. Provide program leadership, technical assistance, and high-quality service to customers, to manage the creation, dissemination, utilization, organization, retrieval, retention, and eventual disposition of records.
Goals and Objectives:
1. Advise and assist state agencies in establishing comprehensive records management programs (s. 16.62, Wis. Stats.).
2. Provide staff support to
Public Records Board to perform statutory duties (s. 16.61, Wis. Stats.):
- Preserve for permanent use important state records
- Provide an orderly method for the disposition of other state records and
- Rationalize and make more cost-effective the management of forms and records by state agencies
3. Establish and maintain a records management service (s. 16.62, Wis. Stats.):
- Advise and assist state agencies through standards, procedures, and provision of consulting services;
- Operate a State Records Center on a cost-recovery basis;
- Periodically audit state agencies' records management programs and recommend improvements in records and forms management practices. (Limited activity due to staffing level)
The State Records Center:
- Provides a low-cost facility for the orderly and periodic transfer of agency records.
- Provides a standard method for indexing, transferring, and controlling agency records.
- Provides fast and efficient reference service to the records housed at the State Records Center.
- Systematically disposes or transfers records in the normal course of agency business under approved retention schedules.
- Provides technical consulting services to state agencies in all areas of records management and Records Center policies.
What Is Needed to Use State Records Center Services?
State agencies must have an approved Records Disposition Authorization (RDA) for records they wish to store. A current RDA (less than 10 years old) for the agency's records must be approved by the Public Records Board.
An RDA is a statement of records scheduling. It provides instructions and information as to the record content, format, length of the retention period, official record location, and disposition. The RDA assists agencies in managing records from creation through disposition or during the record's life cycle. State statutes require that the agency prepare an RDA within one year from the time a record series is created.
Some records are important enough to warrant storage at the State Records Center, and some are not. Agencies need to properly analyze their records and prepare an appropriate RDA before they may store records at the State Records Center. This ensures management of the record series from the time the record is created through the final disposition.