Municipal Archives Ordinance - Purpose and Scope

1. The Municipal Archives Regulation contains the provisions regarding the establishment and organization of municipal archives as well as the supervision thereof, and sets the minimum duration for the retention of administrative records.

2. The city archives of Schaffhausen and Stein am Rhein, which are managed by trained professional staff, as well as other municipal archives designated by the competent department, may issue their own archive regulations within the framework of Art. 99 para. 1 of the Municipal Law. These must comply with recognized standards and are to be submitted to the competent department for acknowledgment.

1. The municipal archive is the central final archive of the municipality.

2. The municipality preserves its important records in their original form in the municipal archive. These are its inalienable, public property.

3. The municipal archive serves the authorities and third parties as defined in § 4, whose records are stored therein, and is open for use by other third parties in the interest of science and legal application.

1. Documents considered important include, in particular

a) archived records prior to 1912

b) records that must be permanently preserved by law or regulatory provision

c) municipal legislative enactments (municipal constitution, regulations, ordinances, fee schedules, tariffs) and the related essential documents (motions to the municipal assembly or the municipal council, approval decisions, etc.)

d) important records of municipal enterprises and enterprises in which the municipality is involved

e) significant contracts with private individuals or public corporations and institutions, along with the related essential documents

f) plans (land use planning, zoning, building line, district and land reallocation plans, plans and construction accounts for municipal buildings and facilities) and the related essential documents

g) geological survey results

h) building permit records including plans

i) minutes of the municipal assembly, the citizen community and citizen assembly, and the municipal council, along with the related essential documents

j) minutes of the municipal council and other municipal authorities such as guardianship and inheritance authority, social welfare authority, school authority

k) election and voting records of municipal elections and referendums

l) handover protocols and lists of community officials with dates of entry and exit

m) annual financial statements and financial plans

n) important statistics and directories (including cadastre) prepared for municipal purposes

o) residents' register and residents' index cards

p) naturalization records

q) records concerning inheritance and guardianship matters

r) records concerning social assistance

s) documents on important municipal development projects

t) annual reports and printed matter of the municipality (municipal assembly and voting templates, welcome documents, brochures, etc.)

u) image and sound documents as well as records on particular, significant occasions for the municipality.

1. Associations of municipalities and public-law institutions of the municipalities shall conclude a contract with the municipality for the storage of records in the municipal archive. Corporations to which several municipalities belong shall designate one of these municipalities as the archive location.

2. If archival materials from natural or legal persons are of particular importance to the municipality, the municipality may conclude a contract with these persons for the archiving of their records in the municipal archive.

3. The provisions of this ordinance shall apply accordingly.

1. Important records that are available in electronic form must be printed on age-resistant paper and preserved. In cases of doubt, the state archive should be consulted.

2. Records available in electronic form are treated in terms of retention periods and protection periods in the same manner as paper records.

1. In the event of municipal mergers, the new municipality shall assume the archival materials of the dissolved municipality. The archival materials of the dissolved municipality shall, for this purpose, be transferred in their entirety to the archive of the new municipality.

1. Important documents within the meaning of § 3 shall be permanently retained in the municipal archive.

2. Third-party documents within the meaning of § 4 shall be retained in the municipal archive for as long as agreed upon in the contract.

3. For documents whose retention period is not specifically regulated by law or contract, a minimum retention period of 10 years applies. In the case of approvals, the period begins upon the expiration of the approval.

4. Documents to be disposed of shall be offered to the state archive for acquisition. In case of space constraints, the municipal council may request the state archive to consolidate the records. Acquisition, consolidation, and destruction must be documented.

1. Unpublished documents or documents created in private are not accessible to the public during a protection period of 50 years from their creation.

2. For particularly sensitive personal data, the period is 100 years from their creation.

3. During the protection period, access to documents may be granted in the interest of science and the application of law, provided that overriding public or private interests do not oppose it.

1. The municipal archive and its holdings should be located, if possible, in a single building.

2. The archive rooms must be dry, ventilatable, and secure against fire and burglary.

3. The archive rooms may not be used for purposes unrelated to archiving; an exception is their use as office space for the municipal administration.

1. Archived files are to be used in the archive rooms.

2. They may be borrowed as an exception, if

a) the user is trustworthy and known to the archivist, and

b) making copies is too cumbersome or not possible for the archived files due to preservation reasons.

3. The provisions regarding protection periods are reserved.

1. The municipal council supervises the municipal archive.

2. The technical and professional oversight of the municipal archives is exercised by the state archive. It conducts periodic inspections and advises the archivists for this purpose.

1. The Municipal Council

a) appoints the archivist

b) issues an operational and usage regulation

c) enacts the archive plan

d) ensures the delivery and archiving of records that are no longer needed for immediate administrative activities

e) is responsible for the extension of the protection period and for allowing access during the protection period

f) grants approval for the destruction or disposal of records

1. The Archivist

a) ensures appropriate archiving and protection of the files

b) maintains a register of the files, where new additions must be promptly recorded

c) is responsible for the use of the municipal archive in accordance with the usage regulations

d) decides at their own discretion whether files should be retained longer than necessary

1. The municipalities shall implement this regulation within two years of its entry into force.

1. This regulation shall enter into force on January 1, 2010.

2. It shall be published in the Official Gazette and included in the Cantonal Collection of Laws.