RETENTION OF NON-CIA DOCUMENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03097A002400040029-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2006
• Sequence Number: 29
• Publication Date: March 23, 1976
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2006/08/15: CIA-RDP78-03097A0024 00,040029-2
W*AW
P MEMORANDUM FOR: Addressees listed
1. CRS must make a decision on how long to hold non-CIA documents.
This memorandum is to offer you an opportunity to provide input into
that decision.
2. ,Present CRS Records Control Schedule states that all non-CIA
documents will be held for 20 years, though in practice few have been
destroyed, particularly those on film. CIA intelligence information
reports and finished intelligence must be retained until turned over to
the Agency Archives.
3. From the point of-view of effective operations within CRS,
economy and effectiveness improve as the time to hold non-CIA documents
can be reduced. The declassification provisions of Executive Order 11652
and the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act reinforce this condi-
tion. A series of bilateral agreements between CIA and other USIB
agencies state that each agency will hold the other's documents for the
useful life of the document plus five years (not further defined). At
the expiration of this period, the originating agency will service
requests from the receiving agency for old documents. In practice, this
process does not work well, when it works at all.
4. The overwhelming bulk of requests for CRS services (excluding
the effect of the past year's investigations and the FOIA business) is
for documents that are less than 10 years old. Search o than 25X1
10 years require approval by an "operating official" r Less
than 5% of total service for either CIA or non-CIA documents cover
longer time periods. However, some apparently important projects cover
longer time frames. The utility of these longer searches cannot be
judged within CRS.
5. The question, again, is: How Zong should CRS hold other
agencies' classified documents? A subordinate question is: Should CRS
retain the index entry to another agency's document after it is destroyed?
(Again, there is an uncertain possibility of being able to get the old
document from the other agency if a CIA employee has a reference to it.
Getting it, however, will be very slow.)
.... }
...I....JN 1978
Approved For Release 2006/08/15: CIA-RDP78-03097AO02400040029-2
 Approved For Release 2006/08/15: CIA-RDP78-03097AO02400040029-2
SUBJECT: Retention of Non-CIA Documents
25X1
6. I would grea :,tatpment of your vier (or lack
are
available to talk, about this if youhave questions. Please no e that
once a firm retention period is agreed on and CRS starts to purge, many
things are gone forever.
H. C.
Director, Central Reference Service
Addressee. Distribution:
O/DDI
DDI/MSS
C/CGAS
C/Ops Center
C/SALT
D/0CI
OER
D GCR
D/IAS
D/OPR
D/OSR
D/OWJ I
D/OSI
NPIC ExOf
D/OTR
D/NPIC
C/ISAS
C/IPS
C/DDO Services Staff
C/SSG/DDI
CRS Distribution:
C/DSG
C/ISG
C/SAS
C/AS
OD/CRS-2
Approved For Release 2006/08/15: CIA-RDP78-03097AO02400040029-2