The Federal Records Act Explained

The Federal Records Act (FRA) is the foundation of U.S. government recordkeeping. First enacted in 1950 and amended many times since, it makes the creation and preservation of records a legal duty of every federal agency — not an optional good practice.

What the Act requires

At a high level, the FRA requires each agency to:

• Make and preserve records documenting its organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions — enough to protect the legal and financial rights of the government and of people affected by its activities.
• Establish and maintain a records management program with the policies and procedures to manage records across their lifecycle.
• Schedule its records — determine, with the National Archives, how long each record type is kept and what happens at the end.
• Dispose of records only under authority granted by the Archivist of the United States. Destroying federal records without an approved schedule is unlawful.

The role of NARA

The Act gives the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) oversight. NARA issues the implementing regulations (36 CFR Chapter XII), approves agency records schedules, publishes the government-wide General Records Schedule, provides guidance, and takes custody of permanent records. The Archivist of the United States holds the legal authority to approve records disposition.

Why it matters

The FRA is why U.S. federal recordkeeping is one of the most structured systems in the world. It underpins:

• Transparency — there can be no FOIA response without records to find.
• Accountability — records document what the government did and why.
• History — permanently valuable records are preserved for future generations.

Related laws

The FRA governs the records of executive-branch agencies. Parallel laws cover other areas: the Presidential Records Act (records of the President and Vice President), the E-Government Act, and the FOIA and Privacy Act for access. Modern guidance built on the FRA — including the push to fully electronic recordkeeping — reflects the same principle the Act set more than seventy years ago: document what you do, keep it as long as required, and dispose of it only in an authorized, accountable way.