Meet Jessica Priskos, Records Manager for the Utah State Tax Commission. Three years ago, as new state privacy laws began to take effect, she stepped into her role and began organizing and updating her agency’s record series and retention schedules to reflect current business processes—a massive project. She quickly discovered that many schedules hadn’t been updated in decades. Now in the middle of this work, we wanted to spotlight Jessica to learn how she got started and what she’s learned along the way.

What is your role in records management and access? What part does it play in your overall job?

I am the main Records Manager, at least as far as everything electronic goes. I know there are others at the Tax Commission who manage the paper side. Records management is a large part of my job—I spend most of my time organizing and updating our records. As with many agencies, our retention schedules are in desperate need of cleanup and updates.

How long have you been a Records Manager?

I was named the Records Manager after new data privacy bills started passing in the legislature. It became clear pretty quickly that records and privacy go hand in hand, and we needed to start updating our retention schedules. In Spring 2023, I was moved under a new supervisor and officially named the Records Manager for the Tax Commission.

Can you tell us about one of your records management projects?

The main project we’ve been working on is updating our retention schedules, which are probably more than 30 years outdated. They reference old processes and systems that we no longer use. It has involved a lot of trial and error.

At first, we took a big-picture approach and met with directors of our functional areas, but we quickly realized we were missing critical information about certain records. We decided to go smaller and meet with individual groups within each area to better understand their processes. This has been more time-consuming, but much more beneficial.

We also found it helpful to bring in the RIM specialist assigned to us from State Archives. Our agency needed training, and we were able to have our RIM specialist provide virtual sessions for employees. It’s been a slow process of learning, adjusting, and trying new approaches, but we’ve made steady progress and updated several record series. We’re looking forward to completing the retention schedule updates and maintaining them going forward.

What have you found most challenging about your job?

The most challenging part was figuring out where to start. Before we broke down our retention schedules, the project felt overwhelming. We quickly learned it’s a group effort—every employee at the Tax Commission needs to understand records and retention.

It has also been a challenge helping staff understand that they are the subject experts. I don’t know all of their processes or the records they manage, so their input is essential.

What is your favorite part of the job?

My favorite part of this project has been learning more about the processes in each functional area and meeting my coworkers. It’s been a great opportunity for cross-training. We have a lot of knowledgeable people at the Tax Commission, and it really highlights how each person plays an important role in keeping things moving forward.

What advice would you give other records officers and managers?

Be patient. It’s a slow process, but progress is progress. Rely on your coworkers and the knowledge they have about their work, and make sure you take advantage of the support your State Archives RIM specialist can provide.