What is a paperless office?
What are the goals of NCEDA's paperless office?
Which documents will be made available to the public?
Which documents will not be made available to the public?
How will the public documents be made available to the public?
Are there restrictions on public access?
When will the transfer be complete?
How long will documents remain accessible to the public?
What statutes govern North Carolina public records law?

What is a paperless office?

The concept of the paperless office describes the process of transferring records from paper to computer. Technological advances in scanning, storing, and retrieving files drastically reduce the need to retain a paper copy of each public record. The public records currently on file with NCEDA will systematically be scanned and added to the digital database. Moving forward, public records need not ever be printed in paper form. By originally creating the files in digital format and immediately adding them to the agency database, there is little need to produce a paper copy.

What are the goals of NCEDA's paperless office?

Agency efficiency will be increased once the transfer is complete. No longer must employees spend time printing documents, labeling and filing them for storage, shipping them to a storage facility, and retrieving them from storage upon demand. The paperless system will allow employees to complete each of these tasks without leaving their desk.

There are significant environmental benefits to reducing the use of paper. In the United States, 500 million acres (an area almost three times the size of Texas) is used to grow wood for paper. The harvesting of trees, production of paper, and accumulation of waste are all reduced when the paperless office is realized.

Public access to government documents is easier when documents are available online. Citizens wishing to access information will be able to immediately do so at their home computer instead of visiting the agency, making a request, and waiting for employees to retrieve a file.

Which documents will be made available to the public?

NCEDA is required by law to provide access to all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business. This information is the property of the people; citizens have the right to access their public records and public information free or at minimal cost.

NCEDA will abide by these state laws.

Additionally, the NCEDA document distribution system will promulgate templates for agency documents, frequently asked questions manuals, administrative law regulations, and other documents the agency deems important to public distribution.

Which documents will not be made available to the public?

The following are by law excluded from being labeled public documents and will not be available on the NCEDA website:

1. Confidential attorney communications;

2. Trade secrets as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-152(3);

3. Property of a private person as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-152(2). This will be construed to include certain e-mail of agency employees;

4. A document designated as a trade secret or confidential at the time of its initial disclosure to the agency;

5. A document that reveals the electronically captured image of an individual's signature, date of birth, drivers license number, or a portion of an individual's social security number if the agency has those items because they are on a voter registration document.

How will the public documents be made available to the public?

Citizens may access the NCEDA database to retrieve the included public documents. Public terminals allowing users to search the database will also be provided in NCEDA's Raleigh office.

Are there restrictions on public access?

Citizens have a right to access public documents and their public information. Citizens may not be required to disclose motive or purpose. However, to avoid unwanted invasions of privacy, requesters must agree in writing that the copy will not be resold or otherwise used for trade or commercial purposes.

When will the transfer be complete?

The transfer process will begin immediately, but due to the volume of information to be archived it is estimated that it will take up to eighteen months before all information is available in digital format. NCEDA's goal for complete transfer is August 2006.

How long will documents remain accessible to the public?

Documents will remain archived for a minimum of three years.

What statutes govern North Carolina public records law?

The North Carolina legislature passed the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132 (1993)) to clarify the state's public record policy. This statute may be found, in full, at
http://www.ncpress.com/publicrecordslaw.html.