Official defends document shredding

Feather River Recreation and Park District (FRRPD) in Oroville, California, has been criticized recently for what citizens believe is illegal shredding of paper documents. However, in a letter to the editor of the Chico Enterprise-Record, Susan Martin, the organization's finance manager, defended its shredding practices.

"As I stated in a public meeting recently, the only documents I have shredded as the finance manager of FRRPD are duplicate copies unnecessarily kept by the previous bookkeeper, as well as financial worksheets I create that are revised," Martin wrote.

She added that any documents that must be kept for auditing purposes or for use by members of the organization's board of directors and management have not been destroyed. Martin also said that documents that may be needed for future litigation have been maintained properly.

It's important to understand the regulatory side of records management programs. Various legal and industry mandates call for certain types of information to be retained for specific time periods.

Organizations that wish to ensure they comply with such regulations can utilize a records management company, experts say. The offsite records storage and shredding services of professionals will take all such issues into account when handling an organization's documents.