The law on public records requires all state and local agencies to adhere to a set of record retention requirements. However, it is the responsibility for each agency to create internal policies and procedures to ensure that the requirements laid out in the record schedule of an agency are being adhered to. The Bureau of Records Management consults with personnel from every agency that creates records to determine the best record retention period for the company’s legal and administrative requirements.
Most states and many cities villages, towns and counties have adopted a records retention schedule for their agencies. These schedules provide the legal as well as the fiscal, historical, and cultural requirements for each type of document that is maintained by the agency. They are typically arranged in categories or groups referred to as records series. Each of these records series might have distinct requirements for storage, transfer or disposal.
The purpose and nature of a record determines the time frame for a particular series. A record series that includes information about financial transactions, legal proceedings or litigation may require a longer duration of retention than one that contains information on employee performance.
Sometimes records must be kept for a specified time in accordance with a statute or regulation that requires that the record be kept. These regulations www.derwentmills.com/2023/06/07/retention-of-public-records and statutes often don’t specify the length of time that records must be kept – whether it is for a few days or a few weeks, 10 years, or for the entire time.