1 | Maine State Archives Records Management Rev 9/2016

Records Retention Schedules

What is a Records Retention Schedule?

Your agency needs to know how long to retain its records and what to do with them afterward–to destroy or preserve them permanently at the Maine State Archives.

An Application for Records Retention Schedule is a document listing all the titles of a records series, length of time each document or record will be retained as an active record, the reason for its retention (administrative, legal, fiscal, and historical) and disposition agreed by the agency and Records Management. A clearly defined plan for a record retention and disposal is a vital component of a records program.

Creating record series allows an office to apply consistent retention practices to similar types of records. A series is a grouping of records that support similar business processes having related legal and operational retention requirements. Each record series consists of a description of the process the records support and examples of the types of records that fall under the series and will be included on individual Records Series Inventory forms. A retention period is associated with each record series. A retention period may be stated in terms of months or years, or may be expressed as contingent upon the occurrence of an event such as the termination of a contract or conclusion of a project. The retention period can be “in agency” only or at the Records Center or a combination of both. The Application for Records Retention Schedule and Records Series Inventory forms are accompanied by samples and justifications for retentions including comprehensive legal research that documents current legal recordkeeping requirements and considerations.

Why You Need Schedules

Records retention schedules serve as an agency's legal authority to retain and purge records and, therefore, hold great importance. Schedules capture all of the types of records created and used by the agency in the course of its business and indicate how long these records are required to be retained. A retention schedule needs to be developed and applied in a systematic manner, as part of an agency’s overall records management strategy. Both development and implementation of a retention schedule are important elements in establishing a "good faith" effort for ensuring proper records management practices by all employees.

What Schedules Can Do

  • Ensure records are organized and maintained to be easily retrieved and identifiable as evidence of the agency activities (especially in the event of an audit, FOAA request or a discovery for a lawsuit).
  • Help to preserve those records that are valuable for historical or research purposes.
  • Determine appropriate records media and the record copy to which the full retention should be applied.
  • Maximize use of appropriate storage.
  • Provide security for restricted records.
  • Provide control throughout the records’ life cycle including final disposition.

Risk of Not Having Schedules

The more information an office retains, the greater the burden of identifying and locating records when needed for reference purposes and legal compliance. Without an efficient records management program, including current schedules, the effort of locating required documents can be immense. Risk exists if an agency is not able to locate all seemingly relevant records and unintentionally withholds required documents.

All state government records must be covered by retention schedules. This includes records that never leave the creating agency's custody.

Retention schedules for digital records work about the same way as for paper, microfilm, and other "traditional format" records. The most important principle to remember is this: Content, not format, determines retention.

The Life Cycle of Records

Creation: Receiving or generating information for the first time

Active/Current: Using or referring to it regularly in the course of business (records remain in the office)

Inactive/Noncurrent: Infrequent need, but kept for fiscal, administrative, legal or historical purposes (records are closed and may need to be transferred to the Records Center until fiscal/legal needs have been fulfilled)

Disposition: The final fate of a record – will it be destroyed after its retention period or it is archival

What is a Record?

Books, papers, photographs, maps or other documentation, regardless of their physical forms or characteristics, (including digital records such as e-mail messages and attachments); made or received in connection with the transaction of official government business and maintained because they serve as evidence of the agency’s functions, policies, decision, procedures, operations and other activities; or because of their informational value.

Types of Retention Schedules

General Record Schedules - issued by the Maine State Archives to provide retention and disposition standards for records common to most State agencies. There are 17 General Schedules, mostly related to administrative or fiscal procedures. Usually, if a General Schedule exists, an Agency Schedule does not have to be written. (Exceptions would be records that need to be transferred to the Records Center/Archives or an agency which requires a different retention than those specified in the General Schedules.)

Agency Schedules – for those records unique to the office

The Structure of the Archives

The State Records Center – located in Hallowell – for records that have a disposition destroy

The State Archives – for permanent records with historical/archival value

Ownership of Records

All records in Records Center status, including pre-archival records, remain under legal control of the agency that created them.

Records in the Records Center are released only to cardholders of the creating agency.

Determining Retention Periods

In order to dispose of records at the appropriate time, it is necessary to evaluate them in relation to their period of usefulness to the department.

How long will the records be needed for business purposes, as far as the creating agency is concerned?

What is the frequency of use?

What is the record’s value?

Determining the appropriate retention period for records requires taking a look at their value to the creating agency, and their long term value to researchers. Some specific questions to ask when deciding how long to retain your records (4-part criteria):

  • Administrative use: What is the value of the records in carrying out the daily functions of your agency? day to day business operation, such as correspondence, memos, reports (typical need for these records is under 5 years)
  • Legal requirements:Are there any State Statutes or Federal regulations involved? records mandated by law or regulation such as records needed as evidence in legal cases or leases, titles, contracts, court case files
  • Fiscal requirements:How much time must you allow for the completion of fiscal activities such as audit or budget? records documenting an agency’s fiscal responsibilities such as invoices, receipts, purchase orders (typical retention 7 years)
  • Historical/Archival: Do these records document important events or the history and development of your department? significant (public)historical/research records documenting agency history, such as board minutes, executive policy and correspondence

The Final Disposition

Archives or Destroy? 500 years from now, will someone want to use these records for research purposes? Will they be needed that far in the future for any legal or historical reasons?

  • YES - This series may belong in the Archives
  • NO - The records should be destroyed when your agency no longer needs them

Things to Consider When Determining Retention/Disposition

  • Avoid the “Just in Case” or CYA syndrome.
  • Information should be retained if there is a reasonable probability it will be needed at some future time to support legal or business objectives, and the consequences of its absence would be substantial but there must be justification to support your decision.
  • Remember, the presence or absence of information can be either helpful or harmful; therefore the best way to minimize the risks is to provide for systematic disposal as soon as records have met their administrative, fiscal or legal requirements.
  • A retention period is most likely to be valid if it is based on a consensus of the opinions of persons most knowledgeable about the value of the information – make sure you are getting the right information from the right people who can also support their opinions with fact.

What About Archival Records

MRS Title 5, Chapter 6: STATE ARCHIVIST [ 1995, c. 148, §6 (AMD) .] 3. Rules. To adopt such rules as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter. No restrictions or limitations may be imposed on the use of records that are defined by law as state and local government records or as records open to public inspection, unless necessary to protect and preserve them from deterioration, mutilation, loss or destruction. Restrictions or limitations imposed by law on the examination and use of records transferred to the archives under subsection 7, paragraph C and subsection 8 remain in effect until the records have been in existence for 50 years, unless removed or relaxed by the State Archivist with the concurrence in writing of the head of the agency from which the records were transferred or the successor in function, if any.

Creating New/Amending Existing Schedules

Your Agency Records Officer signs and submits an Application for Records Retention Schedule and Records Series Inventory Form with samples

Forms can be found on the Maine State Archives web site.

The application provides general information about each series to be scheduled and the Inventory provides detailed information

Records are managed as a Schedule and Series (Think of it as related files within a folder on your computer – that’s how the Schedule and Series function.)

Application for Records Retention Schedule

  • The first step in creating a new schedule is completing an Application for Records Retention Schedule (MSA/RM 22).
  • This form can be downloaded from You cannot fill it out on line – you must save the form to your computer and then complete it.
  • The application provides general information about the records you want to schedule, such as the creating agency, series title, and proposed retention period. It serves as a cover or “batch” sheet for the Records Series Inventory form (or forms) to follow.

The Records Series Inventory

Complete a separate Record Series Inventory (MSA/RM 59) for each series listed on the Application for Records Retention Schedule.

The Record Series Inventory form can be downloaded from

This form supplies detailed information about each series to be scheduled (description, justification for proposed retention period, proposed disposition of Archives or destroy).

The Record Series Inventory form must be accompanied by “live” samples, which means no blank forms. It is acceptable with sensitive records for the agency to black out (redact) confidential information, or to submit a form completed with fictional data; but there must be samples, to show what is in the series.

Amending an Existing Schedule

After a retention schedule has been approved by the Maine State Archives, your agency may need to change it. You might need to do this because of a change in statute, in a Federal regulation, in your agency’s policies, in your business needs, or simply because experience with the records tells you that they are being accessed more or less frequently than you expected when writing the current schedule. Your agency Records Officer would submit a Schedule/Series amendment.

Download the Application for Records Retention Schedule form. Mark the application “amendment” and fill in the following information: series number; series title; new retention periods; schedule number. Be sure to check “change in retention” or “other” as the reason for the amendment.

You must provide justification (a complete explanation) for any change to a retention or disposition of your records, or for making a series obsolete.

We do not require an amendment for a change of media if it is an in agency retention only. However, if it is a change of media which will impact the Records Center retention or if the series has a disposition of Archives, an amendment to the existing schedule needs to be created.

When changing a record series description, you need to submit 2 documents:

  • An Application for Record Retention Schedule (marked “amendment”)
  • A Record Series Inventory updated to reflect the change of description

Also, please include samples of any added documents. You may need to file such an amendment if the documents the series includes have changed, which usually happens when the program itself has changed. If the entire intention of the records/program has altered, the best course of action would be to make the old one obsolete and write a new series. You do not need to change the description for minor alterations in the documents the series includes.

Review and Approval

Any new schedules or amendments are submitted to the Records Management Analyst for initial review. If there are any basic questions or retention justifications that need to be made, the Analyst will send a request back for further information or clarification. If the Analyst is in agreement with the submitted schedule or amendment, it will move on to the State Archivist and/or the Archives Advisory Board for final approval and adoption. A signed copy will be returned. This is considered an agreed to contract between the submitting agency and the State Archives and the agency is expected to follow agreed to retentions and disposition.

Responsibility and Authority

The Records Officer should be given the responsibility and authority to coordinate: the records inventory and file plans for offices; development of records retention schedules; oversight of record destruction of obsolete records; and training of staff.

Management Support - Support from the top down ensures a successful RM program. Management needs to be on board with the RM program including having up-to-date schedules. Develop a strategy to address records retention that has management authority mandating it. All employees, (directors, records officers, all office staff), need to see the value in appropriate records management.

How to Implement Approved Schedules

Once you have schedules, what do you do with them?Make sure all schedules are written into the office file plan and train staff so all employees are consistently retaining records the same way for the same length of time. Have a policy in place approved by management to foster adherence to the schedules by all staff and conduct annual reviews to purge information, making this part of your records management policy.

Quick Steps to Develop Records Schedules

  • Designate a Records Officer and Assistants to oversee the management or agency records
  • Have management support and create a Records Management team
  • Conduct an Inventory of all records (in all formats) within the agency
  • Appraise the records per 4-part retention criteria (administrative, fiscal, legal, historical)
  • Conduct research to support retention times
  • Design a final draft (have an agency review process in place)
  • Submit Application for Records Retention Schedule (including the Series Inventory forms and samples) to Archives Records Management for final approval process

FINAL NOTE

Maintain Your Records on an Ongoing Basis

We recommend you review your schedules every 2 years. Schedules that are 40 years old are probably as ineffective and inefficient as having no schedules at all.

Review new laws and regulations that effect records retention requirements. Retention schedules can quickly become outdated.

Review programs, policies and procedures,and disposal processes on a regular basis. Clean out inactive records or those which have met their retention periods, including electronic records. Schedule a records “clean-up” day on a quarterly (or other regular) basis which every employee participates in.

More Information

Contact the Records Management Department at 287-5798 or go to our website:

1 | Maine State Archives Records Management Rev 9/2016

NEW SCHEDULES – complete the following information

Application for Records Retention Schedule

Department / Bureau/Division / Date
Agency Records Officer / Mailing Address / Telephone Number
Certificate of Agency Representative:
I hereby certify that I am authorized to act for this agency in matters relating to the disposal of its record series as described in this Records Retention Schedule. These records will not be needed for current business after the retention period(s) specified.
Date / Signature of Agency Records Officer (Other Agency Head – Please Specify)
New Schedule Amendment to Existing Schedule Schedule Number
If amendment, please indicate reasonand give justification:
Change in retention
Other (describe)
*See Inventory Form for media examples. **Give amount of time in agency and in RecordsCenter (i.e. no. of years, contingent upon event, less than one year, permanent, etc.) Retention time would begin once records are closed. Records would not be sent to the Records Center (or Archives) until the records were closed and the agency retention time was fulfilled.
Series No.
(If Amended) / Series Title / MediaType* / Time Retained in Agency** / Time
Retained inCenter** / Destroy or Archives
Maine State Archives Use Only
Agency No. / Schedule No.
Date / Signature of State Archivist
MSA/RM 22/Rev. 042016
MaineState Archives / Archives Use Only (applies to new schedules)
Record Series Inventory / Agency No. / Schedule No. / Series No.
Department / Bureau/Division / Date
Person to Contact / Telephone No. / Location of Records
Contact person’s mailing address
Series title
Description of Records: Why does the agency keep these records—what program or programs do they support? How are the records used, and by whom? What might be found in a typical file? (Please include samples with inventory form; you may black out identifiable personal information if this raises confidentiality concerns. Also, please spell out all acronyms.)
Give a detailed explanation of what this records series is about and why the department keeps the records. Include what type of records can be found in a typical file. Give as much information as possible.
Frequency of Use: At what point does each file become "closed" as far as your business needs are concerned?
How often will files need to be accessed once closed, agency retention is met and records are sent to the Records Center?
How long do you need to store these records? Standard retention times for paper records at the Records Center fall between 10 and 25 years.
In Your Agency / In the Records Center / Archives or Destroy (your recommendation)
What Statutes, laws, regulations or research information did you use to determine your retention periods (please state to give justifications)?
You must give a thorough explanation/justification of how you determined retention periods. If Archival disposition also explain.
Are records confidential? no yes If yes, which statutes or regulations apply?
Can the same information be found in other records? (If yes, please explain. It's important to know where the State would go to reconstruct records in case of disaster and also to know if there are duplicate records being retained as archival which are not vital records and if so why this is the case.)
Media Type: Paper Microfilm Microfiche Digital File Photograph Other ______
Arrangement: Alphabetically Chronologically Geographically Case number Other ______
These records are retained by: Calendar Year Fiscal Year or Other ______
The chart below applies for those agencies doing an internal inventory. If you have the information, please provide.
Date of Oldest File / Volume in Cubic Feet if Applicable / Annual Rate of Accumulation if Applicable / Filing and Storage Equipment
(How are records stored)
Signature of Agency Records Officer (Other Agency Head – Please specify) / Date

MSA/RM 59/Rev. 042016