The Public Records Law requires that all local and state government agencies comply with an array of records retention requirements. It is the responsibility of the agency to establish its own internal policies and procedures to ensure that the requirements of an agency’s records schedule are met. The Bureau of Records Management works with the staff at each agency that creates records to establish the retention period for records that is most compatible with the administrative and legal needs of the company.

Many states and numerous cities towns and villages have formulated a schedule for the storage of documents. The schedules outline the legal requirements, fiscal and historical for each type of record maintained by the agency. These schedules are typically grouped into categories, or groups known as records series. Each record series could have different storage and disposal, transfer, or storage requirements.

The purpose and nature of a record determines the time frame for a particular series. For instance, a record series that contains information regarding financial my sources transactions, legal actions, or litigation could require a longer retention time than a series containing information regarding employee performance.

A statute or regulation may require that a record be kept for a specified time. A common problem is that these statutes and regulations do not define how long the record should be kept such as days, months or years, or even permanently.