Section 7000.430  Records Retention

a)         Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other awardee records pertinent to a State-issued award shall be retained for 3 years after the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for awards renewed quarterly or annually, after the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report to the State agency.  Awardees that are State or local government agencies must retain financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other awardee records pertinent to a State-issued award in accordance with the State Records Act [5 ILCS 160] and the Local Records Act [50 ILCS 205].

b)         State agencies shall not impose any other record retention requirements upon awardees, with the following exceptions:

1)         If any litigation, claim or audit is started before the expiration of the 3-year period, the records must be retained until all litigation, claims or audit findings involving the records have been resolved and final action taken.

2)         When the awardee is required in writing by the State agency or the Auditor General to follow a different retention policy, that policy shall be followed.

3)         Records for real property and equipment acquired with State funds must be retained for 3 years after final disposition.

4)         When records are transferred to or maintained by the agency, the 3-year retention requirement is not applicable to the awardee.

5)         When awardees are required to report program income after the period of performance, the retention period for the records pertaining to the program income starts from the end of the awardee's fiscal year in which the program income is earned.

6)         Refer to Section 7000.420(i) for retention requirements regarding indirect cost rate proposals and cost allocation plans.

c)         Requests for Transfer of Records

The State agency shall require the awardee to transfer specified records to its custody when it determines that the records have long-term retention value. However, to avoid duplicate recordkeeping, the agency may make arrangements for the awardee to retain any records that are continuously needed for joint use.

d)         Methods for Collection, Transmission and Storage of Information

The State agency and the awardee shall, whenever practicable, collect, transmit and store State-issued award related information in open and machine-readable formats, but the agency shall always provide or accept paper versions upon request. If paper copies are submitted, the agency shall not require more than an original and 2 copies. When original records are paper, electronic versions may be made and substituted if they are subject to periodic quality control reviews, provide reasonable safeguards against alteration, and remain readable.

e)         Access to Records

1)         Awardee Records

Any entity of the State, including, but not limited to, the State agency, the Auditor General, the Attorney General, any Executive Inspector General, and the Inspector General of the State agency, as applicable, and the federal awarding agency, Inspectors General, the Comptroller General of the United States, when applicable, or any of their authorized representatives, shall have access to any documents, papers or other records of the awardee that are pertinent to the grant to make audits, examinations, excerpts and transcripts.  The right also includes timely and reasonable access to the awardee's personnel for the purpose of interview and discussion related to these documents.

2)         Confidentiality for Crime Victims

Pursuant to the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act and other Illinois victim protection laws, only under extraordinary and rare circumstances shall the access in subsection (f)(1) include knowledge of the true names of victims of a crime. When access to the true names of victims of a crime is necessary, appropriate steps to protect this sensitive information shall be taken by both the awardee and the State agency. Any access to this information, other than under a court order or subpoena issued by a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to a bona fide confidential investigation, shall be approved by the head of the State agency.

3)         Expiration of Right of Access

The right of access granted by this Section lasts as long as the records are required to be retained. State agencies shall not impose any other access requirements upon awardees.

f)         Restrictions on Public Access to Records

No State agency shall place restrictions on the awardee limiting public access to the awardee's records pertinent to a State-issued award, except as required by law, when necessary to safeguard protected personally identifiable information or when the awardee demonstrates that these records will be kept confidential and would have been exempted from disclosure by FOIA if the records had belonged to the State agency. FOIA does not apply to records that remain under an awardee's control except as required under this Section.  Unless required by federal or State statute, awardees are not required to permit public access to their records. The awardee's records provided to a State agency generally will be subject to FOIA and applicable exemptions.

(Source:  Amended at 47 Ill. Reg. 7893, effective May 26, 2023)