204 Pa. Code § 209.2 - Procedure for the Destruction or Transfer of Appellate Court Records

(a) Records may be disposed of in accordance with the retention periods listed on the Appellate Court Records Retention Schedule (Schedule) in Appendix a. The schedule is "permissive" in that court personnel may continue to hold records beyond the stated retention requirements. Records need not be kept in their original form, particularly those requiring long term or permanent retention. Microfilm or PDF/A copies that meet the micrographics or PDF/A standards and the quality control guidelines and related policies approved by the Commonwealth's County Records Committee set forth in the County Records Manual are acceptable substitutes and shall be followed to the extent practicable. When scanning documents there must be an individual responsible for quality control. Copying onto any other media must be approved in advance by the AOPC.

(b) Records not listed for permanent retention may be disposed of in accordance with the schedule. A record of the destruction, containing the record series titles, date spans, approximate quantities of the records, and date destroyed must be submitted to AOPC. AOPC need not approve destruction of these records. A sample Records Disposal form can be found in Appendix B.

(c) Records listed for permanent retention may not be disposed of without approval by AOPC. Records listed for permanent retention and archival review may not be disposed of without approval by both AOPC and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC).

(1) AOPC approval must be obtained before destroying original records scheduled for permanent retention that have been microfilmed or converted to PDF/A format.

(2) If the records are marked for archival review on the schedule, approval must also be obtained from both aopc and the PHMC prior to destruction. Records series marked with an asterisk in the Archival Review column on the schedule have potential historical value and the phmc State Archives may be interested in maintaining original, microfilm and/or pdf/a copies of these series. One form, the form attached in Appendix C, is to be used to obtain approvals.

(d) In some instances, inactive records that have not been microfilmed or converted to PDF/A, and are no longer needed for administrative or legal purposes by the Courts, may be transferred to the State Archives in lieu of permanent retention at the office of origin. Records transferred to the State Archives become the legal property and responsibility of the PHMC. Court officers should contact the phmc to make arrangements for archival appraisal and the systematic or one-time transfer of individual series on the schedule.

(e) Definitions.

(1) Electronic records: "Electronic records" are information which satisfy the definition of a record as defined below, and have been recorded and stored in an electronic file which is readable by a computer. Electronic files may consist of database records, correspondence, spreadsheets, word processing documents, presentations, digital images, e-mail, reports, and other file types. These files may be stored on cloud-based computer storage such as OneDrive, Google Drive, and DropBox; on data center network attached computer storage such as network shared drives, storage area networks (SANs), network-attached storage (NASs), and electronic filing systems; on stand-alone computer storage such as PC internal hard drives, server hard drives, and solid-state drives; or on removable storage media such as backup tapes, disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, diskettes, ZIP disks, and USB/Flash drives.

(2) PDF/A: ''PDF/A'' is an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standardized version of Adobe PDF specialized for use in archiving. The PDF/A specification ensures that electronic documents can be retained permanently by providing long-term reliability and preservation. The purpose of PDF/A is to accurately display documents in the distant future even though computer standards and formats will evolve over time. The PDF/A format described in ISO 19005 should be utilized.

(3) Records: As used in this Schedule, the term ''records'' includes those papers, dockets, books, photographs, or other documentary materials in any form made or received in an appellate court pursuant to law, statute, or rules of court, in connection with transactions of its business and the discharge of its responsibilities. The term includes electronic records as defined above.

(4) Retain permanently: Records designated for permanent retention or acceptable facsimiles (i.e., microfilm or PDF/A), as defined by the County Records Committee and/or the AOPC, may not be destroyed under any circumstances. Permanent records may be transferred to a records center in which case the prothonotary of the appellate court would maintain custodial control of the records, or they may be transferred to the legal custody of the PHMC.

(5) Final disposition:

(i) The final adjudication by the Pennsylvania appellate courts for cases in which appeals are not taken to the United States Supreme Court; or

(ii) the final adjudication by the United States Supreme Court.

If the final adjudication of the United States Supreme Court or of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court remands the case to another appellate court, the case will be treated as an open case in the court to which the remand is directed.

Notes

204 Pa. Code § 209.2

Amended by Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol 53, No. 20. May 20, 2023, effective 5/20/2023