FAQs about email management
How long should I keep my email?
Storage of email messages using Outlook
Understanding Records Management: E-Mail Records
Electronic Mail (e-mail) is an important communication tool for conducting government business in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Increasingly, government agencies use e-mail systems to distribute memos, circulate drafts, disseminate directives, transfer official documents, send external correspondence, and support various aspects of government operations. Well-designed and properly managed e-mail systems expedite business communications, eliminate paperwork, and automate routine office tasks.
Since e-mail meets the statutory definition of a public record in Kentucky, it is subject to management requirements which may not be obvious. For example, electronic mail may be subject to open records requests, yet its users may have inappropriate expectations of privacy and informality; mail may be destroyed inappropriately; or it may be accumulating in systems when it should more properly be destroyed after it no longer has value to the agency. Because of the dynamic and often informal nature of e-mail, many questions have arisen over the official and legal status of e-mail messages.
Guidelines & Other Documents
The following documents are intended to help provide guidance and assistance to public officials in managing their email messages.
- Guidelines for Managing E-mail in Kentucky Government represent best practices that are designed to assist agencies in the management of their e-mail records. These guidelines were developed to complement the Enterprise Architecture Standard.
- Enterprise Architecture Standard 4060, “Recordkeeping – Electronic Mail, provides the technical context for management of e-mail as part of the Enterprise Architecture Standards.
- Internet and Electronic Mail Acceptable Use Policy (CIO-060), is an Enterprise policy that clarifies the public record status of e-mail messages and sets broad parameters for the management and acceptable use of e-mail in the executive branch of state government.
Training & Other Resources
KDLA offers several types of training and assistance to state and local agencies. Stay tuned for more materials to be added shortly.