§ 38-3-6 - Public records custody and disposal.
SECTION 38-3-6
§ 38-3-6 Public records custody anddisposal. – (a) Each agency shall prepare and submit to the program, in accordance with therules and regulations of the program, record control schedules for all publicrecords in the custody of the agency.
(b) The offices of the attorney general and the auditorgeneral will advise the program on the legal and fiscal values of recordscovered by proposed records control schedules.
(c) Those records which are determined by an agency not to beneeded in the transaction of current business but which, for legal or fiscalrequirements, must be retained for specific time periods beyond administrativeneeds, shall be sent to the records center. The records will be kept in thecenter until time for disposition as provided in record control schedules.
(d) Public records possessing permanent value as determinedby approved records control schedules shall be transferred to the publicrecords repository when no longer needed by an agency in transaction of currentbusiness.
(e) Title to any record placed in the records center shallremain in the agency placing the record in the center.
(f) Title to any record transferred to the public recordsrepository, as authorized in this chapter, shall be vested in the program.
(g) The program shall preserve and administer such publicrecords as shall be transferred to its custody according to approvedconservation and security practices, and to permit them to be inspected,examined, and copied at reasonable times and under supervision of the program;provided that any record placed in keeping of the program under special termsor conditions restricting their use shall be made available only in accordancewith the terms and conditions.
(h) Provide a public research room where, upon policiesestablished by the program, the records in the public records repository may bestudied.
(i) The program may make certified copies under seal of anyrecords transferred to it upon the application of any person, and thecertificates, signed by the administrator or his or her designee, shall havethe same force and effect as if made by the agency from which the records werereceived. The program may charge a reasonable fee for this service.
(j) No public record shall be destroyed or otherwise disposedof by any agency without prior notice to the program.
(k) The program shall adopt reasonable rules and regulationsnot inconsistent with this chapter relating to the destruction and disposal ofrecords. The rules and regulations shall provide but not be limited to:
(1) Procedures for preparing and submitting record controlschedules to the program.
(2) Procedures for the physical destruction or other disposalof records.
(3) Standards for the reproduction of records for security orwith a view to the disposal of the original record.
(l) The program shall:
(1) Establish safeguards against unauthorized or unlawfulremoval or loss of records; and
(2) Initiate appropriate action to recover records removedunlawfully or without authorization.
(m) The program may prepare and publish handbooks, guides,indexes, and other literature directed toward encouraging the management,preservation, and uses of the state's public records resource.