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Retention and Disposition Schedules

The New York State Archives developed the following records retention and disposition schedules in partnership with state and local governments.    Please make sure to review proposed schedule revisions that will significantly alter records retention periods. 

State agency retention and disposition schedules:

All agency records must be scheduled prior to destruction or transfer to the Archives or State Records Center.  Agencies should email us at recmgmt@nysed.gov for copies or listings of current agency-specific schedules or to update obsolete or inaccurate schedule items.

  • General Schedule for common administrative, fiscal, and personnel records of all state agencies. Agencies that have not already adopted the General Schedule and wish to do so may complete and submit the General Schedule Adoption Form.
Picture of NYS Records Center Stacks

For general information about records scheduling and destruction, see Publication #41, Retention and Disposition of Records: How Long to Keep Records and How to Destroy Them, or attend our workshop on Using State Archives Retention Schedules.

Local government retention and disposition schedules:

The State Archives is revising and consolidating its local government records retention and disposition schedules and issuing a single, comprehensive retention schedule for all types of local governments on August 1st, 2020. The new schedule, Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records (LGS-1), will supersede and replace the CO-2,  MU-1, MI-1, and ED-1 Schedules. Local governments must adopt the LGS-1 prior to utilizing it, even if they adopted and have been using the existing schedules, and will have until January 1st, 2021 to do so. For more information, visit our LGS-1 press release and List of Major Revisions.

  • CO-2 schedule for counties
  • ED-1 schedule for school districts, BOCES, and other educational governments
  • MU-1 schedule for municipalities, including fire districts
  • MI-1 schedule for all miscellaneous governments
  • County Boards of Elections
While the State Archives can provide guidance on appraising local government records for their enduring historical or research value, local governments should consult the Archives' publication titled Appraisal of Local Government Records for Historical Value (Pub #50).  For more information contact your Regional Advisory Officer (RAO) or the Scheduling Unit for assistance.

Retention and disposition of non-government records

State Archives records retention and disposition schedules do not cover non-government records, including the records of non-profit organizations, commercial ventures, and private individuals. Retention requirements relating to non-government records may, however, be found in certain state or federal laws or in contractual agreements. In addition, non-government entities can consult and adopt (as appropriate) State Archives retention requirements, because the legal basis for retaining records for a certain period of time is frequently the same for government and non-government records.
 
In addition, for guidance on developing retention and disposition schedules in non-government organizations, contact ARMA International. If you actively collect the historical records of another organization, individual, or group, develop a collecting policy to determine what to accept and retain permanently as part of your repository. For more information on developing a collecting policy, see our publication, Strengthening New York's Historical Records Program: A Self-Study Guide. Contact the State Archives at (518) 474-6926 or via email if your status as an agency or unit of government is unclear.