RETENTION OF FIELD CONTACT REPORTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R001800050059-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 59
• Content Type: MEMORANDUM FOR

Approved For Release 2006/11/30: CIA-RDP81 M00980R001
C O N F I D E N T I A L
AY 1978
25X1
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MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Records Administration Branch
DDA/ISAS
FROM: William F. Donnelly
DO Records Management Officer
THROUGH: Deputy Director for Operations
SUBJECT: Retention of Field Contact Reports
REFERENCE: Senate Select Committee Recommendation 4
1. The SSCI Recommendation No. 4 states: "CIA should
be required to retain for at'least five years all records,
including field contact reports (presently destroyed at the
discretion of Chief of Station), relating to activity which
requires approval of or review by the Special Coordination
Committee of National Security Counsel."
2. Would you please ask OLC to inform the SSCI that by
directive, field stations report all relevant operational infor-
mation by cable, telepouch or dispatch? This includes information
from contact reports, or the contact reports themselves. The
information becomes the official record at Headquarters and is
scheduled to be retained for a minimum of ten years before it may
be destroyed. We would like OLC to suggest to the SSCI as well
that these procedures appear to meet the SSCI recommendation for
a minimum five-year retention of all records-worthy material.
3. OLC may also wish to point out by way of background
that these procedures are intended to avoid duplication in the
field of records available at Headquarters, and to avoid over-
taxing the pouch system with redundant material such as informal
contact reports whose substance has been included in official
correspondence. It may be worth noting as well that any require-
ment to retain redundant or non-records material in the field can
tie a station's hands in emergency destruction situations. Such
crises afford little or no opportunity for a field station to
devote time separating out material to be kept, and poses the
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Approved For Release 2006/11/30: CIA-RDP81M00980R001800050059-4
 Approved For Release 2006/11/30: CIA-RDP81M00980R001800050059-4
risk of loss if the post is overrun - probably an unnecessary
risk since the official station record can be re-constituted from 25X1
Headquarters files.
Approved For Release 2006/11/30: CIA-RDP81M00980R001800050059-4
 Approved For Release 2006/11/30: CIA-RDP81M00980R001800050059-4
Approved For Release 2006/11/30: CIA-RDP81M00980R001800050059-4