RECORD RETENTION AND DISPOSITION FOR LOCAL AGENCIES

All public records are considered permanent unless there is either a specific law or a record schedule approved by the State Archivist that authorizes you to dispose of records (1 V.S.A. § 317a). As of the revision date of this page, the term record schedule includes:

• any general record schedule (GRS) issued by VSARA for all (state and local) public agencies
• any agency-specific record schedule issued to your public office (none issued for municipal records at this time)
• any pre-existing disposition orders that have not yet been superseded by a record schedule

Note: You are not required to send notification when you destroy records using one of these authorizations.

Documentation of Records Disposition

It is considered best practice to keep documentation of records disposition. This helps to indemnify you against legal liability, as well as providing an audit trail to assist your successors. Documentation should include:

• the date of disposition
• how the records were disposed of (i.e. destroyed, transferred to an archival repository, etc.
• a description and date range of the records
• the authorization permitting their disposition

Valid Authorizations for the Disposition of Local Records

Important Notice
The Retention Time-Table for Municipal Records and the Retention Time-Table of School Records are now obsolete, and should not be used for authorization to destroy records. For more information, see this notice. For record retention guidance, review the resources listed below.

General Record Retention Schedules
    • Definitions of terms used in record schedules

General schedules are retention policies that address records commonly found across many public agencies. Any State or local agency may apply them, provided that there are no specific legal requirements with a longer retention.

NOTE: Local agencies are not required to submit the notification of adoption, and they may also disregard any references to records officers and records liaisons.

Index to Municipal Disposition Orders
Disposition orders are records retention policies approved by the Public Records Advisory Board (PRAB), the Commissioner of Buildings and General Services, the Director of Public Records, the Secretary of Administration, or the Public Records Commission between the years of 1938 and 2004.

To learn more about managing your records or if you have questions, please contact:

TREVOR LEWIS, Local Records Program Coordinator

Vermont State Archives and Records Administration

1078 U.S. Route 2, Middlesex

Montpelier, VT 05633-7701

EMAIL:

PHONE: 802-828-1005