§ 121-5. Public records and archives.
§ 121‑5. Public recordsand archives.
(a) State ArchivalAgency Designated. The Department of Cultural Resources shall be the officialarchival agency of the State of North Carolina with authority as providedthroughout this Chapter and Chapter 132 of the General Statutes of NorthCarolina in relation to the public records of the State, counties,municipalities, and other subdivisions of government.
(b) Destruction ofRecords Regulated. No person may destroy, sell, loan, or otherwise dispose ofany public record without the consent of the Department of Cultural Resources,except as provided in G.S. 130A‑99. Whoever unlawfully removes a publicrecord from the office where it is usually kept, or alters, mutilates, ordestroys it shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and upon conviction onlyfined at the discretion of the court.
When the custodian of anyofficial State records certifies to the Department of Cultural Resources thatsuch records have no further use or value for official and administrative purposesand when the Department certifies that such records appear to have no furtheruse or value for research or reference, then such records may be destroyed orotherwise disposed of by the agency having custody of them.
When the custodian of anyofficial records of any county, city, municipality, or other subdivision ofgovernment certifies to the Department that such records have no further use orvalue for official business and when the Department certifies that such recordsappear to have no further use or value for research or reference, then suchrecords may be authorized by the governing body of said county, city,municipality, or other subdivision of government to be destroyed or otherwisedisposed of by the agency having custody of them. A record of suchcertification and authorization shall be entered in the minutes of thegoverning body granting the authority.
The North Carolina HistoricalCommission is hereby authorized and empowered to make such orders, rules, andregulations as may be necessary and proper to carry into effect the provisionsof this section. When any State, county, municipal, or other governmentalrecords shall have been destroyed or otherwise disposed of in accordance withthe procedure authorized in this subsection, any liability that the custodianof such records might incur for such destruction or other disposal shall ceaseand determine.
(c) Assistance toPublic Officers. The Department of Cultural Resources shall have the right toexamine into the condition of public records and shall, subject to theavailability of staff and funds, give advice and assistance to public officialsand agencies in regard to preserving or disposing of the public records intheir custody. When requested by the Department of Cultural Resources, publicofficials shall assist the Department in the preparation of an inclusiveinventory of records in their custody, to which inventory shall be attached aschedule, approved by the head of the governmental unit or agency havingcustody of the records and the Department of Cultural Resources, establishing atime period for the retention or disposal of each series of records. So long assuch approved schedule remains in effect, destruction or disposal of records inaccordance with its provisions shall be deemed to have met the requirements ofG.S. 121‑5(b).
The Department of CulturalResources is hereby authorized and directed to conduct a program ofinventorying, repairing, and microfilming in the counties for security purposesthose official records of the several counties which the Department determineshave permanent value, and of providing safe storage for microfilm copies ofsuch records. Subject to the availability of funds, such program shall beextended to the records of permanent value of the cities, municipalities, andother subdivisions of government.
(d) Preservation ofPermanently Valuable Records. Public records certified by the Department ofCultural Resources as being of permanent value shall be preserved in thecustody of the agency in which the records are normally kept or of the NorthCarolina State Archives. Any State, county, municipal, or other public officialis hereby authorized and empowered to turn over to the Department of CulturalResources any State, county, municipal, or other public records no longer incurrent official use, and the Department of Cultural Resources is authorized inits discretion to accept such records, and having done so shall provide fortheir administration and preservation in the North Carolina State Archives.When such records have been thus surrendered, photocopies, microfilms,typescripts, or other copies of them shall be made and certified under seal ofthe Department, upon application of any person, which certification shall havethe same force and effect as if made by the official or agency by which therecords were transferred to the Department of Cultural Resources; and theDepartment may charge reasonable fees for these copies. The Department mayanswer written inquiries for nonresidents of the State and for this service maycharge a search and handling fee not to exceed twenty‑five dollars($25.00). The receipts from this fee shall be used to defray the cost ofproviding this service.
(e) Program Funding. Feescredited to the Department under G.S. 161‑11.6 shall be used to offsetthe Department's costs in providing essential records management and archivalservices for public records pursuant to Chapter 121 and Chapter 132 of theGeneral Statutes. (1907,c. 714, s. 5; C.S., s. 6145; 1939, c. 249; 1943, c. 237; 1945, c. 55; 1953, c.224; 1955, c. 543, s. 1; 1959, c. 1162; 1973, c. 476, s. 48; 1979, c. 361; c.801, s. 95; 1981, c. 406, ss. 1, 2; 1993, c. 539, s. 916; 1994, Ex. Sess., c.24, s. 14(c); 1997‑309, s. 13; 2001‑427, s. 3(a); 2009‑451,s. 20B.3(b).)