I've mixed feelings about this type of work. The State Correction department had issues with inmates microfilming documents and some of them involved private information being leaked to the defendant in a court case. This could happen just as easily with shredding, even if the inmate is being watched. In addition, you are then using two persons to do the job of one even if only one is being paid. I'm also not certain if using inmates would meet HIPPA or DOD requirements. Fairfax had employed inmates to do shredding, but I discontinued it because of our volume. They could not keep up with the amount of records needing to be shredded. We average about 600 to 800 boxes per month. Last year the County shredded over 180 tons of paper, and the school system had close to the same amount. At the moment, we are using a vendor for shredding which was done through a requisition. We recently issued an RFP which should be awarded by the end of this month. Under the RFP, the vendor will provide shredding for our records at the records center, but also provide on-site shredding at the various departments, special shredding on various days throughout the year that the County provides shredding services for residents, and special secure pickup containers for shredding at designated locations. Richard "Dick" Harrington County Archivist / Recs. Mgr. Fairfax County Archives & Records 6800-A Industrial Rd. Springfield, VA 22151 Tel: 703 658-3776 Fax: 703 642-2832 -----Original Message----- From: Virginia Records Officer's Listserv [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lois Reeves Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:55 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: VA Shredding by inmates??? As a Records Manager and VA Beach taxpayer, I am not happy about the recent revelation that Sheriff Lateigne is planning to use inmates to shred city documents. A. Those might include my personal documents. B. I can think of better uses of taxpayer money during a budget deficit. C. Risk and legality issues come to mind. I think it was a very short-sighted and ill-concieved idea. Sheriff Lateigne did not contact his own Records Management department for comment or LVA. I doubt he's aware of the many laws and regulations governing our records. Please read the article and comments at: http://hamptonroads.com/2009/02/va-beach-sheriff-plans-use-inmates-shred - city-papers I would like some feedback on this. To UNSUBSCRIBE, change options, or subscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-rol.html (If using Netscape, must have version 6.1 or higher to view the above page) To UNSUBSCRIBE, change options, or subscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-rol.html (If using Netscape, must have version 6.1 or higher to view the above page)