Managing Records: Laws & Regulations
Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, Article 57-A
Local Government Records Law
Descriptions of relevant sections:
Section 57.17 provides up-to-date definitions of such basic but important terms as record, governing body, local government, and disposition. Past definitions of record and local government were unclear, leading to frequent confusion over which agencies came under the authority of the Commissioner of Education and which materials constituted official records.
Section 57.19 requires the governing body and chief executive official of each local government to promote and support a program for the orderly and efficient management of records, including the identification and appropriate administration of records with enduring value for historical or other research. This section also requires that each local government designate a records management officer (RMO) to coordinate the development of and oversee its records management program. In towns and villages the town or village clerk is designated as RMO by law; in fire districts the fire district secretary is so designated. In all other types of local governments any local officer may be so designated by the chief executive official, subject to the approval of the governing body.
Section 57.21 established the Local Government Records Advisory Council (LGRAC), an advisory body appointed by the Commissioner of Education and consisting of local officials, representatives of State agencies, and other citizens concerned with local government records or expert in records management and archival administration. The Council is responsible for advising the Commissioner of Education on local government records policies and procedures, State services, and financial support needed to assist or advise local officials, and regulations pertaining to local government records. The Council publishes annual reports on local government records issues, and meets regularly to advise the State Archives on services and policy matters such as the promulgation of Commissioner 's Regulations.
Section 57.23 outlines oversight and advisory services that the State Archives, acting for the Commissioner of Education, is to provide local governments. These services include advising on the establishment of records management programs, the identification and preservation of archival records, and the development and use of micrographics, automation, and other technologies.
Section 57.25 deals with retention and disposition of local government records. It states that no local official may dispose of records unless the governing body has officially adopted the appropriate State Archives Records Retention and Disposition Schedule. It also states that the records must be kept for their minimum legal retention periods set forth in that Schedule, and that they cannot be destroyed until they are no longer needed for any purpose.
Section 57.27 authorizes the Commissioner to designate particular local records for permanent retention because of their enduring statewide significance.
Section 57.29 permits the reproduction of records and the disposition of originals... by microphotography or other means that accurately and completely reproduces all the information in the records. Local officials may dispose of such records provided the process for reproduction and provisions for preserving and examining the copy meet requirements established by the Commissioner of Education. Such copies are considered to be authentic and suitable for introduction as evidence in proceedings before courts and administrative agencies.
Section 57.31 permits local governments to participate in cooperative records storage and management programs with one another, to deposit or loan archival records to repositories and to store inactive records with commercial vendors. (NOTE: Such deposit, loan, or storage agreements must meet criteria established by SARA acting on the Commissioner 's behalf.)
Section 57.33 excludes the records of the City of New York, the boroughs contained therein, any court, and any unit of State government, from the terms of the Local Government Records Law.
Section 57.35 deals with grants for local government records management improvement, including eligibility, applications, types of projects, and allowable expenditures. Grant funds are permitted for management of court records in the custody of local governments, and the Register of the City of New York may receive funding as well.
Section 57.37 provides for the establishment of nine regional offices across the state which offer advisory and consultative services and technical assistance to local governments on records management and the administration of archival records.
Section 57.39 outlines reporting requirements relative to records management including Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) revenues and expenditures.
In addition, a revised subdivision one of Section 57.07 of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law was added to clarify the records-related responsibilities of local government historians. This section shifts the emphasis away from historians collecting records themselves to a broader role in supporting records management programs, promoting preservation and wider use of local government archival and nongovernment historical records, and carrying out research in such records.
