Local government records are public property, and their disposal is governed by retention schedules approved at state level rather than by local preference.
General schedules issued by the state archives cover records common to all local units — minutes, financial records, personnel files, permits, police records. Unit-specific schedules may be approved for unusual holdings.
Approval required before disposal. Most states require an approved schedule and a disposal certificate or log. Destroying records without one is a violation and, where litigation or a records request is pending, may be spoliation.
Suspension. Retention obligations are suspended by pending litigation, an audit, or an open records request, and the hold must be communicated to custodians.
Format. Electronic records are subject to the same schedules. Email is the recurring problem, because retention varies by content rather than by medium, and a single global deletion period is almost always wrong.
Permanent records — minutes, ordinances, deeds, plats, vital records — must be preserved and, where digitised, maintained in a format with a migration plan.
Text messages and personal accounts. Communications about public business are public records regardless of the device or account, which is why a policy prohibiting the use of personal accounts for public business is the practical control.