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Agency Records Officers

Records Officer's Role & Responsibility

Every executive-branch state agency must have a records officer appointed by its agency head—this may be the executive director, legal counsel, head of IT, or another senior administrator for the state agency.  Larger, more complex agencies may appoint a records officer at the division/bureau/program level, as deemed necessary. 

Role & Responsibilities

  • Acts as liaison between your state agency, KSHS staff, and the State Records Board
  • Knows the agency’s records, record keeping practices, and records schedules.
  • Revises records schedules and requests new records schedules as necessary.
  • Formulates records management policies for your agency
  • Handles records destruction.
  • Facilitates transfers of records.
  • Ensures compliance with relevant statutes and regulations.
  • Ensures agency records are well managed, regardless of format.
  • Establishing records storage and handling procedures.
  • Monitoring storage locations for:
    • Extreme temperature changes
    • Flooding or water leaks
    • Security risks from loss and defacement.
  • Establish microfilm procedures and needed to ensure compliance with standards set forth in K.S.A. 75-3506 and K.S.A. 45-412.  
  • Ensure compliance with preservation of electronic records as required by the State Records Board.

Detailed information about the role and responsibilities can be found in K.A.R. 53-4-1, which implements the Public Records Act, K.S.A. 75-3501 et seq.

Other duties that relate to formulating and overseeing implementation of an agency records management program may include:

  • Designing, monitoring, and refining efficient and effective records storage and retrieval systems, whatever the format--paper, microfilm, or electronic.
  • Identifying vital or essential records.
  • Developing disaster preparedness plans for vital and archival records.
  • Administering public access to records in accordance with the Kansas Open Records Act (K.S.A. 45-201 et seq.) while ensuring that legal restrictions on access to confidential records are followed.
  • Conducting cost/benefit studies of records management activities.
  • Directing forms design and forms management.
  • Participating in automation studies to ensure that records management concerns are represented in designing and analyzing systems.

Additional resources for records officers include: