Section 209.2. Procedure for the Destruction or Transfer of Appellate Court Records

(a) Records may be disposed of in accordance with the retention periods listed on the current Appellate Court Records Retention Schedule. The schedule is ‘‘permissive’’ in that court personnel may continue to hold records beyond the stated retention requirements. Records need not be kept in their original form, particularly those requiring long term or permanent retention. Microfilm copies that meet the micrographics standards approved by the Commonwealth’s County Records Committee are acceptable substitutes. Copying onto any other new media such as optical disk must be approved in advance by the AOPC.

(b) Records not listed for permanent retention may be disposed of in accordance with the schedule. A record of the destruction, containing the record series titles, date spans, approximate quantities of the records, and date destroyed must be submitted to AOPC. AOPC need not approve destruction of these records.

(c) AOPC approval must be obtained before destroying original records scheduled for permanent retention that have been microfilmed. Approval must also be obtained from the PHMC if the records are marked for archival review on the schedule. Records series marked with an asterisk in the Archival Review column on the schedule have potential historical value. This means that the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Division of Archives and Manuscripts (State Archives) would be interested in maintaining original and/or microfilm copies of these series. Records marked for archival review may not be destroyed without permission of the PHMC. One form, the form attached, is used to obtain approvals.

(d) In some instances, inactive records that have not been microfilmed, and are no longer needed for administrative or legal purposes by the Courts, may be transferred to the State Archives in lieu of permanent retention at the office of origin. Records transferred to the State Archives become the legal property and responsibility of the PHMC. Court officers should contact the Commission’s Division of Archival and Records Management Services to make arrangements for the systematic or one-time transfer of individual series on the schedule.

(e) Definitions.

(1) Retain permanently: Records designated for permanent retention or acceptable facsimiles (i.e. microfilm) as defined by the County Records Committee and/or the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts may not be destroyed under any circumstances. Permanent records may be transferred to a records center in which case the prothonotary of the appellate court would maintain custodial control of the records, or they may be transferred to the legal custody of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

(2) Final disposition:

(i) The final adjudication by the Pennsylvania appellate courts for cases in which appeals are not taken to the U. S. Supreme Court; or

(ii) the final adjudication by the U. S. Supreme Court.

If the final adjudication of the U. S. Supreme Court or of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court remands the case to another appellate court, the case will be treated as an open case in the court to which the remand is directed.