Mendocino County Board of Supervisors repeal unlawful public records fees and roll out expedited email deletion policy

MENDOCINO Co., 5/9/23 — The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday morning to repeal Ordinance 4507, which authorized county officials to violate state law as a cost-savings measure related to answering public records requests, less than a year after the controversial legislation was first proposed last June. But now they’re looking to reduce the costs associated with releasing public records through a new “email retention policy” authorizing staff to delete public records within six months of receipt. (Watch the full meeting here.)

“All email will be retained in the County email system for a period of six (6) months. After this time, emails will be disposed of unless they are specifically archived in accordance with the retention periods outlined in the subfolders described below,” Section 5.1 states.