Records management

20.6(1) Records manager; management specialists; committee. a. The office of the state court administrator will designate or employ an “Iowa Judicial Branch Records Manager” to oversee the creation, storage, retention, duplication, reproduction, disposition, and destruction of and public access to judicial branch records. b. Each Iowa judicial district must designate or employ a “Judicial District Records Manager.” c. Judicial district records managers will serve on the standing “Iowa Judicial Branch Records Management Committee” chaired by the judicial branch records manager. The office of state court administrator may appoint a judicial district chief judge as a co-chair of the committee. d. The clerk of court for each county must designate a “Records Management Specialist” for each county. 20.6(2) Duties of the judicial branch records management committee. Duties of the judicial branch records management committee include the following: October 2025 COURT RECORDS Ch 20, p.7 a. Identifying all categories and types of court records subject to judicial branch control. b. Identifying the requirements for managing judicial branch records as well as any other relevant laws or rules. c. Identifying the retention time for each category or type of court case record. d. Establishing processes for maintaining judicial branch records during retention periods. e. Establishing processes for retaining or destroying judicial branch records, including proposed revisions to existing court rules or recommended statutory changes. f. Submitting recommendations to the state court administrator by June 1 of each year as necessary to reflect changes in court rules, the Iowa Code, or records management technology. g. Performing any other function the state court administrator assigns. h. Using the judicial branch’s information technology resources to mitigate the burden of document management and destruction. i. Considering the utility of cooperation between the judicial branch and other state agencies and the role the committee’s recommendations will have with that cooperation. j. Avoiding disparate outcomes and uneven application of standards throughout the court system. k. Balancing the cost and expedience of retaining or destroying judicial branch records, and the public’s accessibility to judicial branch records. 20.6(3) Duties of judicial branch records management specialist. a. The records management specialist of each county, at the direction of the district records manager and the judicial branch records manager, is responsible for implementing procedures for records management, purging, and retention, including implementation of this rule. b. The records management specialist will answer questions about purging any documents not on the lists provided in rule 20.5. Any question the records management specialist cannot answer will be referred to the district records manager or designee, who may refer questions to the judicial branch records manager. [Court Order October 28, 2025]