Government Records Branch of North Carolina

Public Record Laws

• General Statute 121: The North Carolina Archives and History Act
• General Statute 132: Public Records Law
• North Carolina Administrative Code
  This link will take you to Title 07, Chapter 4. Select Subchapter M, and page through to Section .0500 to read the regulations concerning the State Records Center.
• Laws Relating to Confidential Records Held by North Carolina Government (pdf) - updated for 2009

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Public Records with Short-Term Value

According to North Carolina General Statutes 121 and 132, every document, paper, letter, map, book, photograph, film, sound recording, magnetic or other tape, electronic data processing record, artifact, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristic, made or received in connection with the transaction of public business by any state, county, municipal agency, or other political subdivision of government is considered a public record and may not be disposed of, erased, or destroyed without specific guidance from the Department of Cultural Resources. The Department of Cultural Resources recognizes that many records exist that may have very short-term value to the creating agency. These guidelines, along with an approved program records retention and disposition schedule and the General Schedule for State Agency Records, are intended to authorize the expeditious disposal of records possessing only brief administrative, fiscal, legal, research, or reference value, in order to enhance the efficient management of public records.

Examples of those records include:

• Facsimile cover sheets containing only transmittal ("to" and "from") information, or information that does not add significance to the transmitted material.
• Routing slips or other records that transmit attachments.
• Reservations and confirmations.
• Personal messages (including electronic mail) not related to official business.
• Preliminary or rough drafts containing no significant information that is not also contained in the final drafts of the records.
• Documents downloaded from the World Wide Web or by file transfer protocol not used in the transaction of business.
• Records that do not contain information necessary to conduct official business, meet statutory obligations, carry out administrative functions, or meet organizational objectives.

The records described above may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of when their reference value ends.

This guideline is not intended to serve as authorization to destroy or otherwise dispose of unscheduled records. This guideline is intended to complement the use of both an approved records retention and disposition schedule for the creating agency or unit, and the General Schedule for State Agency Records, not replace or supersede either. Should a creating agency or unit lack an approved program records retention and disposition schedule, it may not destroy or otherwise dispose of any records in its custody, whether in electronic, paper, or other format (including electronic mail), which are not so authorized by the General Schedule. Such offices should contact the Government Records Branch of the Division of Historical Resources for assistance in creating a schedule.

While records of short-term value may be discarded as described above, all public employees should be familiar with specific program records retention and disposition schedules and applicable guidelines for their office, the General Schedule for State Agency Records, as well as the public records law (G.S. §132). When in doubt about whether a record has short-term value, or whether it has special significance or importance, retain the record in question.

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Last Modified: 04/30/2012