Access to public records is protected by state law, but the proliferation of e-mail has outpaced legislation governing when to delete or preserve electronic records.

"We need to update our policy to reflect the constantly changing technology," Barth said. "You should always start with the assumption that all e-mails are public records, then determine what the exceptions are."

The city's record-retention policy sets a two-year limit to the keeping of printed records. An e-mail policy last revised in 2005 states e-mails must be stored if "keeping them is required by law."

The policy states e-mail is not a public record when a memo is intended for temporary use.

Employees must manage their own in-boxes and file memos in e-mail folders, on the city's computer network, or print and file the record where it belongs

Every day, the city's computer system automatically deletes e-mail that hasn't been filed and is more than 30 days old.

The random deletion of e-mail can be risky, a First Amendment expert said.

"There are certain, clear principles that need to be observed," said Peter Scheer of the California First Amendment Coalition. "If a communication to or from a government employee or a government official is about a government matter or government business, then it's a public record."

It's the content, not the means of transmission, that should determine whether something is a public record, he said.

If it is a public record, it must be retained in some way and made available to the public upon request.

Scheer said the disclosure requirement should extend to public officials who receive e-mails about public business on personal e-mail accounts. Those e-mails should be transferred to a city e-mail account and stored, he said.

"If it were a (printed) letter written to the official at home about public business, it's a public record," Scheer said. "The method of transmission is irrelevant.

"Everything should be backed up and saved unless it's of a purely personal, private, family matter," he said.

The city's policy states that managers may look at any message in the e-mail system at any time but prohibits such review "to satisfy idle curiosity about the affairs of others."

E-mails may not be sent for profit-driven, religious or political motives. Crass or sexually suggestive e-mails are off-limits, and employees must sign a document acknowledging they understand all of this.

Bond said he would not want a city policy to extend beyond what the state and federal government require for e-mail retention. He added that specific information on requirements for e-mail storage and retention is hard to find.

Even with spam filters, Bond says he still receives junk e-mail "from people who want to enhance my sexual prowess and send me millions of dollars from Nigeria."

"I think we need to be thoughtful about what we keep and what we want to keep," he said.

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 901-4074 or akaye@nctimes.com