The State Records Center (SRC) offers low-cost, high density, secure storage for inactive records of state agencies. Records held by the Records Center remain the property of Commonwealth State Agencies. Only authorized agency personnel are permitted access to the records. Requests from the public must be made to the appropriate State Agency. Generally, records are considered inactive if they are referred to no more frequently than once per cubic foot per month. Records retention and disposition schedules approved by the Executive Board are used as the authority to accept records at the Center and also to dispose of them when their retention period is completed. The Center's 61,572 square foot stack area can accommodate 270,000 cubic feet of records.

The center is a single story building made of steel and concrete, with a fire alarm and sprinkler system. Security is provided by a 24-hour sound monitoring system and random police patrols.

The annex to the State Records Center is environmentally controlled to protect vital and historical records.

Management Directive 210.5 The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania State Records Management Program states that “inactive records must be stored so records are readily retrievable, in facilities that provide a suitable environment to protect them from damage, deterioration or loss.”  Agencies that desire to remove inactive records from the State Records Center must receive approval from the State Records Committee and Executive Board.  

Agencies must abide by these requirements in order to use other storage facilities in lieu of the State Records Center.

Inactive Records Management
The Records Center staff monitors and manages inactive records in storage. A variety of custom reports may be generated at agency request, providing updated information regarding stored records. [Records Center Inventory Reports; Agency Disposal Reports; Agency Reference Reports; Agency Authorized Personnel Listings; Agency Retention Schedules]

Records Transfer
Agency Records Coordinators should verify records retention requirements before an actual transfer is made. Records to be stored for six months or less are not eligible for transfer to the Center. The applicable Records Transfer List (STD-59 , STD-59-GS) (see right block for forms)  must be submitted one week prior to the scheduled transfer, email to ra-staterecordsmgmt@pa.gov.

A copy of the completed transfer list with Records Center box numbers will be returned to the Agency Records Coordinator for future reference and retrieval of records. Agencies must submit Records Transfer Lists via Excel spreadsheets.

Retrieval
Records stored in the center remain the property of the transferring agency. Only individuals authorized by the agency will be permitted access to the records. Requests for records must be submitted through the Enterprise Records Management System (ERMS).  Emergency requests only should call 717-787-2911.

Disposal
When inactive records have met their retention requirements, an Agency Disposal Report will be generated and sent to the Agency Records Coordinator. Upon receipt of the signed destruction authorization, records will be sent for disposal.

Personnel Records
Official Personnel Folders STD-301 of terminated employees are to be sent to the SRC within 60 calendar days of termination, except those employees with formal actions requiring further retention in an agency. Folders are maintained at the SRC until former employees reach their 75th year of birth. The  Records Transfer List (STD-59-P79) (see right block for forms)  must be submitted one week prior to the scheduled transfer, email to ra-staterecordsmgmt@pa.gov.