The public records law requires all state and local agencies to adhere to the retention of records requirements. However, it is the responsibility for each agency to create internal policies and procedures for assuring that the standards set forth in the record schedule of an agency are being fulfilled. The Bureau of Records Management consults with personnel from every agency that creates records to determine the optimal time to keep records in accordance with the organization’s legal and administrative requirements.
Many states and many cities, towns and villages, have adopted a plan for the retention of documents. These schedules contain the legal historic, fiscal, historical and cultural requirements for each type of retention of public records document that is maintained by the agency. These schedules are typically grouped into categories or groups, referred to as records series. Each records series could have different storage and disposal, transfer, or storage requirements.
In general the retention requirements are determined by the nature of the record and its purpose. For instance, a record series containing information on financial transactions, legal actions, or litigation may require a longer retention period than a record series that includes information on employee performance.
A statute or a regulation could stipulate that a record must be kept for a particular period. A common problem is that these regulations and statutes do not stipulate how long the record has to be kept for – days, months, years, or even permanently.