About Records Schedules
A "records schedule" identifies records as either temporary or permanent. All Federal records must be scheduled (44 U.S.C. 3303) either by an agency schedule or a General Records Schedule (GRS). All records schedules must be approved by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

A records schedule provides mandatory instructions for the disposition of the records (including the transfer of permanent records and disposal of temporary records) when they are no longer needed by the agency. As part of the ongoing records life cycle, disposition should occur in the normal course of agency business. Subject correspondence should be cut off on at least an annual basis to facilitate transfer of inactive files to an authorized records retention facility and to permit the establishment of new files.

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  Obtaining Records Disposition Authority

For guidance on how to schedule or inventory records, visit:
NARA Records Management, FAQs

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  Implementing Records Schedules

Subject files, which have been closed for one year, and that have at least 12 months until final disposition, should be retired to an approved records facility.

Case files should be cut off at the end of the year in which the case is closed and retired to an approved records facility. (A large volume of case files may require cut off on a quarterly or monthly basis.)

Final disposition of permanent records can include transfer of ownership to the National Archives and Records Administration or transfer of ownership to another Federal agency.

Temporary records are destroyed at the end of the authorized retention period.

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General Records Schedules (GRS) are issued by the Archivist of the United States to provide disposal authorization for temporary administrative records common to several or all agencies of the Federal Government. They include records relating to civilian personnel, fiscal accounting, procurement, communications, printing, and other common functions, and certain nontextual records. In 1978, use of the GRS was made legally mandatory (44 U.S.C. 3303a). Agencies desiring authority to deviate from the disposition instructions prescribed in the General Records Schedules MUST request this authority from NARA, in accordance with 36 CFR 1228.42(B).

Subject Index. Provides the GRS reference (Schedule and Item Number) for administrative records.

Forms Index. Provides the GRS reference (Schedule and Item Number) for Standard and Optional Forms.

Introduction to the General Records Schedules

Schedule 1. Civilian Personnel Records

Schedule 2. Payrolling and Pay Administration Records

Schedule 3. Procurement, Supply, and Grant Records

Schedule 4. Property Disposal Records

Schedule 5. Budget Preparation, Presentation, and Apportionment Records

Schedule 6. Accountable Officers' Account Records

Schedule 7. Expenditure Accounting Records

Schedule 8. Stores, Plant, and Cost Accounting Records

Schedule 9. Travel and Transportation Records

Schedule 10. Motor Vehicle Maintenance and Operations Records

Schedule 11. Space and Maintenance Records

Schedule 12. Communications Records

Schedule 13. Printing, Binding, Duplication, and Distribution Records

Schedule 14. Information Services Records

Schedule 15. Housing Records

Schedule 16. Administrative Management Records

Schedule 17. Cartographic, Aerial Photographic, Architectural, and Engineering Records

Schedule 18. Security and Protective Service Records

Schedule 19. RESERVED

Schedule 20. Electronic Records

Schedule 21. Audiovisual Records

Schedule 22. Inspector General Records (WITHDRAWN) See N1-016-00-3 Disposition of USDA Inspector General Records

Schedule 23. Records Common to Most Offices Within Agencies

Schedule 24. Information Technology Operations and Management Records

Schedule 25. Ethics Program Records

Schedule 27. Records of the Chief Information Officer

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We welcome your comments and suggestions about these pages. For information related to the USDA Records Management Program, please contact Colleen Snyder.

http://www.ocio.usda.gov/records/schedules.html