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Public commentator urges Delta County to review law firm record-retention after response from Burkhart firm
Summary
A member of the public told the Delta County commissioners that a law firm's stated retention schedule appears inconsistent with the county's records policy and urged the board to follow up to ensure county files have not been destroyed.
At the Delta County Board of Commissioners special meeting May 15, a resident said the board should investigate whether the county’s legal files have been retained in accordance with county record-retention rules after receiving a response from outside counsel.
Joe Kaplan of Fort River Township addressed the board during general public comment about correspondence the county received and later released under public records requests. Kaplan said county civil counsel asked the firm Burkhart Miller Parment and Butkus PC for its document-retention policy, and that the firm’s written response described retention time frames that Kaplan said appear inconsistent with the county’s policy. "First of all, this is not consistent with the county's record retention policy," Kaplan said. He read from the firm’s response, which said, in part, that "all files opened in 2024 and earlier are held for 3 years following their close. All files opened in 2025 and later are held for a period of 6 months following their close." Kaplan said the response did not address whether county files had already been destroyed and urged the board to follow up.
Kaplan also said the firm’s response stated that physical files are destroyed after the stated retention period unless a different retention time was promised and that the firm checks whether a different retention time was agreed to before destruction. He asked the board to confirm that the firm’s practice matches county expectations and statutory retention requirements for county records.
Commissioners did not take formal action during the meeting on the public comment; the item was presented for the board’s awareness during the comment period. The transcript includes references to correspondence from a county representative named Beth Bookwire to "Mister Burkhart" dated April 22 requesting the firm's retention policy, and a reply attributed to Ben Parment describing the firm’s general practice.
Kaplan said the county should follow up because he considered a three-year or six-month retention period for county legal files "unacceptable". The board did not record a formal directive or vote on the matter during the special meeting.
