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Pennsylvania county governments operate under strict records retention requirements enforced by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC). Yet many counties don't realize they have a compliance gap until an audit notification arrives. Based on our experience working with county archives across the Lehigh Valley and beyond, here are the five most common warning signs that your records management program needs professional attention.
1. You Can't Locate Records Within 24 Hours
When a FOIA request arrives or a court subpoena demands specific documents, can your team locate and produce them within a business day? If staff members regularly spend days searching through boxes, filing cabinets, or offsite storage to fulfill records requests, your retrieval system has outgrown its infrastructure. Modern high-density shelving with indexed tracking can reduce retrieval times to minutes.
2. Your Retention Schedule Hasn't Been Updated in 5+ Years
PHMC retention schedules evolve as regulations change. If your county is still operating under a retention schedule adopted before 2020, you may be retaining records longer than required (wasting space and budget) or — more critically — destroying records that should be preserved. An annual review of your retention schedule against current PHMC guidelines is a compliance best practice.
3. Paper Records Are Stored in Non-Archival Conditions
Basements, attics, and uncontrolled storage rooms seem like convenient places to store old records. But temperature fluctuations, humidity, and pest exposure can destroy irreplaceable documents. If your county's historical records aren't stored in climate-controlled, archival-grade environments, you're risking permanent loss. Northampton County avoided this fate by installing high-density mobile shelving with proper environmental controls — saving over $1M in potential new construction costs.
4. Multiple Departments Manage Records Independently
When the Recorder of Deeds, the Prothonotary, and the Controller's office each maintain their own filing systems with different retention practices, consistency is impossible. Centralized records management — whether physical, digital, or hybrid — ensures uniform compliance across all departments and eliminates duplication of effort.
A records program rarely fails all at once. It fails one missed deadline, one lost file, one un-scheduled series at a time.
5. You Have No Digital Backup of Critical Records
If a fire, flood, or other disaster struck your records storage area today, what would be permanently lost? Counties that rely exclusively on paper records are one incident away from catastrophic data loss. A professional scanning and digitization program creates secure digital backups while making records instantly accessible through document management systems like Laserfiche. Reynolds has helped dozens of PA counties implement digital records programs that satisfy PHMC requirements while dramatically improving operational efficiency.
If any of these signs sound familiar, contact Reynolds for a complimentary records management assessment. Our team specializes in helping county governments achieve full PHMC compliance while reducing long-term storage costs.
Frequently asked questions
What are the signs a county records program needs an audit?
Missed Right-to-Know deadlines, no current retention schedule, records stored past their disposition date, no documented destruction, and staff who can't quickly locate a requested record.
What does a records-management audit review?
Whether your retention schedule matches the current PHMC manual, whether dispositions are documented, how records are secured and accessed, and how fast records can be produced for a request.
How often should records be reviewed?
At least annually — confirm the schedule is current, dispose of records that have met retention under an authorized disposition, and verify permanent records are preserved in an accessible format.
What's the risk of poor records management?
Deemed denials of Right-to-Know requests (five-business-day deadline, 65 P.S. §67.901), exposure from records kept past schedule or destroyed early, and lost institutional records.
How does Reynolds help with a records audit?
Reynolds helps counties align to the PHMC schedule, digitize and index records for fast retrieval, and document disposition — with experience across 30+ Pennsylvania counties.
