Kentucky mayor in trouble for shredding

When businesses, organizations and governments use paper records to keep files, they run the risk of record loss. For example, employees may haphazardly shred or otherwise discard records.

Recently, Villa Hills, Kentucky, Mayor Mike Martin has come under fire for destroying documents when specifically told not to by a judge, according to WCPO. Attorney Michael Duncan filed documents with Kenton County Judge Patricia Summe on August 16, alleging that Martin's office has been shredding files and dumping them in city trash cans.

The source said a previous investigation found that Martin had destroyed city documents and ethics ordinances. The inquiry came after some of the information revealed evidence that Martin had done electrical work without a license, a crime in Kentucky. Summe said any further elimination of files would result in a spoiling of evidence charge, WCPO reported.

This would likely not be an issue if documents were saved using an electronic document management system. These programs can install the requirement that multiple authorities need to condone the deletion of a document before it is gone forever, making things like eDiscovery much easier on lawyers.

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