State Records Board - Statute
Statutory Responsibility
The Public Records Act establishes the State Records Board and outlines its duties in K.S.A. 75-3502 through 75-3504. The purpose of the board is to oversee "the permanent preservation of important state records and to provide an orderly method for the disposition of other state records." The members of the board consist of the following: "the attorney general, state librarian, secretary of administration, secretary of the state historical society, or their designated representatives, the state archivist, and such ex officio members as are hereinafter provided. The attorney general shall be the chairman and the state archivist shall be the secretary of the board."
Under K.S.A. 75-3504, the State Records Board makes decisions on requests of the state departments and agencies for the destruction or other disposition of records.
Under K.S.A. 75-3504, the State Records Board makes decisions on requests of the state departments and agencies for the destruction or other disposition of records and has the power
- "to order the destruction, reproduction, temporary or permanent retention, and disposition of the public records of any department or agency of the state, to establish records disposal schedules for the orderly retirement of records, and to adopt such other rules and regulations as they may deem necessary to accomplish the purposes of this act."
Disposition of records can include transfer to the State Records Center if the department or agency has a current records retention and disposition schedule that directs such action without further action by the board. In all of these decisions, the board is "required to safeguard the legal, financial and historical interests of the state in such records."
The activities of the State Records Board are based on the following policies outlined in the Government Records Preservation Act (K.S.A. 45-401 through 45-413):
- "State and local government records with enduring value should be stored in conditions which are not adverse to their permanent preservation and should be properly arranged to that appropriate public access to such records if possible. Disposition of noncurrent records which do not merit preservation will promote economy and efficiency in the day-to-day activities of government. . . .
- All government records made or received by and all government records coming into the custody, control or possession of a state or local agency, in the course of its public duties, and all government records deposited in the state archives shall not be mutilated, destroyed, transferred, removed, damaged or otherwise disposed of, in whole or in part, except as provided by law, or as may be authorized in the retention and disposition schedules."
The Government Records Preservation Act further defines the responsibilities of the State Records Board. These include:
- Approve or modify retention and disposition schedules and records manuals.
- Approve any proposed revision in the retention and disposition schedules and pass upon requests for authority to dispose of records of state agencies or counties not listed in the schedules.
- Respond to requests from county commissioners for approval to depart from specific provisions of the schedules or to implement schedules applicable to only a single county.
- Pass upon any recommendations by the State Archivist for transfer to the State Archives of any noncurrent government records with enduring value which are held by a state agency opposing such a transfer. (In such cases, "the state agency opposing the transfer shall defend before the board its reasons for wanting to retain the records in its custody.")
- Approve or modify recommended microphotographic standards prepared by the State Archivist.
- Pass upon requests for authority to dispose of original government records of state agencies following reproduction on microfilm as provided in K.S.A. 45-412 and amendments thereto.