Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) The commission
recognizes the need for periodic reevaluations and thoughtful selection
necessary for the growth and proper care of collections. To maintain the
integrity of the State Archives holdings, items may be reappraised by staff to
determine if they still meet professional appraisal criteria and comply with
the agency's acquisition policy. Items that do not meet professional appraisal
criteria and are not in compliance will be considered for
deaccession.
(b) Deaccession may be
appropriate for items:
(1) That were never
appraised or are not subject to archival review according to the creating
agency's approved records retention schedule;
(2) Whose retention period has changed from
permanent to nonpermanent according to the creating agency's approved records
retention schedule;
(3) That are
duplicates of other items in the State Archives if such duplicates are found in
records of a separate state agency or in a separate non-state agency
collection;
(4) That are
reproductions of archival materials owned by other individuals or
repositories;
(5) Whose condition
has deteriorated to a point that they are unstable or endanger staff or other
items;
(6) The agency cannot
properly access or store;
(7) That
are permanently closed, in whole or in part, by the creating agency;
(8) That do not meet the requirements of the
agency's current acquisition policy; or
(9) Approved on a case-by-case basis for
deaccession for other reasons not listed above.
(c) Items may only be deaccessioned if a
majority of the Deaccession Workgroup votes to recommend deaccession and the
state archivist approves. The state archivist will notify the director and
librarian prior to final approval of deaccessioning of items.
(d) The agency will determine the appropriate
method by which to dispose of a deaccessioned item, which may include, but is
not limited to the following:
(1) Items may be
transferred to a repository with an appropriate collecting scope;
(2) Items that are state records will be
destroyed by the agency;
(3) For
any other non-government records, the agency will make a reasonable effort to
locate the original donor to return the deaccessioned item, unless the donor
claimed a charitable donation tax deduction. To return a donated item to the
original donor:
(A) Donor(s) must sign a
written acknowledgment attesting to the fact that a tax deduction was not
claimed;
(B) If the donor is
deceased, any claimant requesting return in lieu of the donor must present a
notarized statement that he/she is either the sole party at interest or
authorized to represent all parties at interest, along with providing
supporting proof; and
(C) If the
original donor cannot be located, these items may be offered to another
repository or destroyed;
(4) Any item whose condition could endanger
individuals or other items will be destroyed; and
(5) The sale of any deaccessioned materials
will be approved by the Commission and the funds will be used to preserve state
archival records and other historical resources and to make the records and
resources available for research.
(e) If an item or collection of items
approved for deaccession has been logged in the accession log as "on loan" to
the agency or has unknown provenance, staff will follow the procedures in
Property Code, Chapter 80 (relating to Ownership, Conservation, and Disposition
of Property Loaned to Museum) regarding ultimate disposition of the item or
items.
(f) Upon deaccession, the
agency relinquishes title to the object or collection, except in the case of
theft or loss. If deaccessioning is due to theft or loss, the agency will
retain title to the item for the state in case it is ever recovered.
