What records retention rules do state and local government agencies follow if they aren't covered by the Federal Records Act?

The Federal Records Act and the regulations issued under it apply to federal executive-branch agencies. State, county, and municipal governments are separate sovereigns under the U.S. system, so they are not bound by it. Instead, each state builds its own framework for how long public records must be kept and how they are ultimately destroyed or preserved.

State law sets the foundation

Most states have a public records or records-management statute that defines what counts as a “public record,” requires agencies to keep records of their official activities, and prohibits unauthorized destruction. These laws typically establish a central authority — often the State Archives, a state records administrator, or a state library — responsible for issuing rules and overseeing compliance.

A few common features appear across states:

• A statutory definition of public records that covers any recorded information made or received in the course of public business, regardless of format.
• A requirement that records be destroyed only under an approved retention schedule, never arbitrarily.
• Penalties for unlawful destruction or alteration of public records.

Retention schedules do the real work

Day-to-day retention is governed by records retention schedules rather than the statute itself. These come in two broad types:

• General (or “common”) schedules that cover record types found across many agencies — payroll, correspondence, contracts, meeting minutes.
• Agency-specific schedules for records unique to a particular function, such as court files, vital records, or utility records.

Each schedule assigns a retention period and a final disposition (destroy, or transfer to the archives for permanent preservation). Local governments usually follow schedules issued or approved by the state archives, sometimes supplemented by local ordinances.

Other laws still apply

Even outside the Federal Records Act, agencies must account for overlapping obligations: state open-records (sunshine) and privacy laws, litigation holds that suspend destruction when records are relevant to a case or investigation, and any federal program requirements attached to grant funding. Sound practice also draws on professional standards such as ISO 15489 for designing defensible schedules.

For broader context on how federal recordkeeping compares, see the federal records topic hub.

In short: state and local agencies follow state statutes and state-approved retention schedules — a parallel structure to the federal system, governed at the state level rather than by NARA.