The Disposition tab of Retention review — dispose of a closed case's files before the case itself is purged, keeping only what was released or only the case record.

Last updated: October 20, 2026 by Steve

Disposition

Some records schedules let you destroy the case file before the case itself: once every statutory window has passed, the originals can go and only what was released stays; later, every file can go and only the case record stays until the retention purge. A storage policy offers these two disposal stages, and an administrator carries them out from Reports → Retention review → Disposition.

Only holders of Manage configuration (configuration.manage) can see the tab or dispose of anything. Nothing is ever disposed of automatically, and there is no second approver: the administrator reviews, reads what will be lost, gives a reason and confirms. It cannot be undone.

The Two Stages

Stage Offered from What goes What stays
Keep only what was released The policy's Offer to keep only what was released, from (days), and never before the windows have ended Every original and its viewer copy, previews and working-file versions; review, originals, failed and unsent packages; evidence packages kept in the documents storage that include the documents; the earlier versions Azure keeps of each Every sent package, and any package published in the reading room, with its released files and accessible editions; each original that was itself released (a native file sent beside a merged PDF); correspondence that was sent; documents you exclude
Keep only the case record The policy's Offer to keep only the case record, from (months) — before the type's retention period Every remaining file, the sent packages included The case record and its dates, outcome, fees and exemptions; each package's record with its sent date and fingerprint; documents you exclude

A request is offered for Keep only what was released only when one of its packages was marked as sent.

What Is Kept of Each Disposed Document

Its record stays as a stub: name, type, size, page and minute counts, classification, release decision, where it came from, its SHA-256 fingerprint, and every redaction mark with its position, exemptions, approvals and history. Duplicate detection still recognises an incoming copy of it.

Disposing of a document also removes what AccessPoint derived from it that still holds the unredacted content: its extracted text and text fingerprints, transcript segments, transcript, caption, on-screen-text and description files, AI summaries, its entries in the search index, the words each redaction mark withheld, and the case's cached AI results.

Eligible and Blocked Cases

The tab has a stage switch and lists the eligible cases for the stage you choose, up to 50 at a time. Cases not yet eligible are listed with the first reason:

  • The case is not closed
  • Not due yet under its storage policy
  • A preservation hold is placed on the case
  • The records schedule reference is missing
  • A linked case is still open
  • No statutory window is defined for it
  • A statutory window is still open
  • No response package was marked as sent
  • A restore from Archive is under way
  • A package is being generated
  • A portal delivery or reading-room entry is still live
  • A malware scan is still pending

Every rule is checked again, case by case, at the moment you confirm.

The Records-Schedule Gate

A policy that offers disposal states whether your records schedule counts copies of responsive records as records (on by default for a new policy). When it does, the policy can be switched on only with the records schedule reference that allows the disposal, and that reference is recorded with every disposal.

Before You Confirm

Open a case to see, document by document, what goes and what stays. You can exclude any document whose case copy is the only copy (its source has since disposed of its own).

The preview names the evidence packages in the write-once evidence container that include these documents. They survive until their protection period ends (protected until about …), because AccessPoint never addresses that container.

The confirm dialog says what will be lost:

  • the case can be reopened but never released again, because the originals and viewer copies are gone;
  • a complaint about the case can receive only what was released;
  • Find & redact, text recognition, transcript search, AI summaries and Ask AccessPoint no longer see the text of these documents;
  • a regulator or court asking for the withheld records must be told they were disposed of under this policy on this date. The disposition log and the audit ledger prove it.

Disposing

  1. Choose the stage.
  2. Select up to 50 cases.
  3. Give the reason (required).
  4. Choose Dispose of originals or Dispose of every file, and confirm.

A disposed document then shows Disposed of on its row, and opening or downloading it explains that only its record remains. A package whose file went shows that it was disposed of, with its sent mark and fingerprint.

The Disposition Log

Each disposed document, package and evidence package leaves a line in the Disposition log below the lists, written before any file is removed. It records the case, the document's name, its fingerprint and size, the files removed, what derived text went, the policy's values and windows, the schedule reference, the reason, who and when, and whether the files were removed.

The log is never purged. When the case is later purged, its document names are cleared from the log; the fingerprints, sizes and kinds stay. Each disposal is also recorded in the audit ledger.

If a file cannot be removed, its line says Failed — files still stored, the document stays whole and the case stays eligible, so trying again finishes it.

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