§ 57.25. Records retention and disposition. 1. It shall be the
responsibility of every local officer to maintain records to adequately
document the transaction of public business and the services and
programs for which such officer is responsible; to retain and have
custody of such records for so long as the records are needed for the
conduct of the business of the office; to adequately protect such
records; to cooperate with the local government's records management
officer on programs for the orderly and efficient management of records
including identification and management of inactive records and
identification and preservation of records of enduring value; to dispose
of records in accordance with legal requirements; and to pass on to his
successor records needed for the continuing conduct of business of the
office. In towns, records no longer needed for the conduct of the
business of the office shall be transferred to the custody of the town
clerk for their safekeeping and ultimate disposal.

2. No local officer shall destroy, sell or otherwise dispose of any
public record without the consent of the commissioner of education. The
commissioner of education shall, after consultation with other state
agencies and with local government officers, determine the minimum
length of time that records need to be retained. Such commissioner is
authorized to develop, adopt by regulation, issue and distribute to
local governments records retention and disposition schedules
establishing minimum legal retention periods. The issuance of such
schedules shall constitute formal consent by the commissioner of
education to the disposition of records that have been maintained in
excess of the retention periods set forth in the schedules. Such
schedules shall be reviewed and adopted by formal resolution of the
governing body of a local government prior to the disposition of any
records. If any law specifically provides a retention period longer than
that established by the records retention and disposition schedule
established herein the retention period established by such law shall
govern.