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Important Reminders

  1. Local governments must adopt this Schedule prior to its use and by January 1, 2021.
  2. Records created before 1910 (even those which have been microfilmed) are not eligible for disposition without written permission from the State Archives.
  3. No records may be disposed of unless they are listed on this Schedule, or their disposition is covered by other state laws.
  4. Records common to most offices are listed under the General Administration section of the Schedule. You should first attempt to locate a specific item under a functional heading. If the record you are locating cannot be found under a functional heading, then proceed to this General Administration section to search for a less specific item covering the record.
  5. Records being used in legal actions must be retained for one year after the legal action ends, or until their scheduled retention period has passed, whichever is longer.
  6. Any record listed in this Schedule for which a Freedom of Information (FOIL) request has been received should not be destroyed until that request has been answered and until any potential appeal is made and resolved, even if the retention period of the record has passed.
  7. Records being kept beyond the established retention periods for audit and other purposes at the request of state or federal agencies must be retained until the local government receives the audit report, or the need is satisfied.
  8. Retention periods on this Schedule apply to one "official" copy designated by the local government, unless otherwise stated.
  9. The retention periods listed on this Schedule pertain to the information contained in records, regardless of physical form or characteristic (paper, microfilm, computer disk or tape, or other medium).
  10. The State Archives has no legal authority to require local governments to create records where no records exist, even if the records in question are listed on this Schedule.
  11. The new General Administration section combines the former General and Miscellaneous sections. In addition, it includes items that were duplicated in other sections including, but not limited to, the County Clerk and School District and BOCES sections. The new Executive section combines Supervisor, Mayor, Manager, Administrator, County Executive, and Executive sections, and the school superintendent item into one section. The new School District and BOCES section retains the unique subsections of the Schedule ED-1, including Administration, Food Management and Child Nutrition, Gifted and Talented Programs, Health, Instruction, Magnet Schools, Nursing Education, School Safety, Special Education, Student Records, Supplemental Education Services, Teacher Resource and Computer Training Center, Transportation: School Bus Routing and Scheduling, and Transportation: Other School Transportation Records.
  12. The State Archives cannot identify all record series with historical significance for individual local governments. Local officials will need to appraise records with nonpermanent retention periods for potential research or historical value before destroying them.
  13. Certain health-related records may need to be retained for one year longer than this Schedule dictates if those records are subject to the requirements stated in Section 29.2 of 8NYCRR.
  14. The Local Government Records Law and this Schedule do not address confidentiality of records. Confidentiality of records is often dependent upon what information they contain. Local officials should address such questions to the Committee on Open Government, their own counsels, or other state or federal agency having oversight of the records in question.