§ 57.05 — State archives

New York § 57.05

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ACA: Arts and Cultural Affairs
• Title U: Divisions of History and Public Records

Text

§ 57.05. State archives. 1. There shall be continued within the\neducation department the state archives. The state archives shall\nacquire, appraise, preserve either in original or duplicate form,\ncatalog, display, duplicate and make available for reference and use by\nstate officials and others those official records that have been\ndetermined to have sufficient historical value or other value to warrant\ntheir continued preservation by the state.\n 2. For the purposes of this section, official records shall include\nall books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary materials,\nregardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any\nagency of the state or by the legislature or the judiciary in pursuance\nof law or in connection with the transaction of public business and\npreserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its\nlegitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions,\npolicies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities, or\nbecause of the information contained therein.\n 3. Library or museum material made or acquired and preserved solely\nfor reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies of documents\npreserved only for convenience of reference, and stocks of publications\nand of processed documents shall not be deemed to constitute official\nrecords for the purposes of this section.\n 4. Except as otherwise provided by law, the state archives shall\nacquire and assume the official custody and responsibility for\npreserving and making available for reference and use those official\nrecords of the legislature, the judiciary and the civil departments of\nthe state government which are deemed to have sufficient historical\nvalue or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the\nstate.\n 5. The state archives shall acquire and assume the official custody\nand responsibility for preserving and making available for reference and\nuse the official records of any public office, body or board now\nextinct, or hereafter becoming extinct, which are deemed to have\nsufficient historical value, or other value to warrant their continued\npreservation by the state, if the custody and preservation of such\nrecords are not otherwise provided for by law.\n 6. The state archives may accept records, or copies of records, of a\nmunicipal, district or public benefit corporation, providing the records\nhave sufficient historical significance to warrant continued\npreservation by the state.\n 7. The commissioner of education may request the attorney general to\ninstitute legal action for the return to the custody of the state of any\nrecord which has not legally been released from state custody.\n 8. The state archives may duplicate records in its custody, and\ncertify under its own official seal to the authenticity of the copies of\nsuch records. The state archives with the approval of the commissioner\nof education and in accordance with existing state statutes may dispose\nof original records in its custody that have been duplicated.\n 9. The commissioner of education shall have the power to promulgate\nrules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this section,\nproviding no objection to those rules and regulations is made within\nthirty days prior to the effective date of the proposed rules and\nregulations by the following: the speaker of the assembly for rules and\nregulations relating to the records of the assembly; the president\npro-tem of the senate for rules and regulations relating to the records\nof the senate; the director of the division of the budget for rules and\nregulations relating to records of the civil departments; and the chief\nadministrator of the courts for rules and regulations relating to\nrecords of the judiciary.\n 11. The state archives shall establish a state records center\nconsisting of one or more depositories for nonpermanent storage of state\nrecords and shall be responsible for the preservation and disposal of\nsuch records. Solely for the purposes of carrying out his record-keeping\nfunctions, the commissioner of education shall be empowered:\n (a) To assume responsibility for the physical possession, storage,\nservicing and preservation of state agency records accepted into the\nstate records center, and for the security of the information contained\nin or on them. State records stored with the state archives shall for\nall purposes be deemed to be within the possession, custody and control\nof the agency that transferred such records.\n (b) To authorize the disposal or destruction of state records\nincluding books, papers, maps, photographs, microphotographs or other\ndocumentary materials made, acquired or received by any agency. At least\nforty days prior to the proposed disposal or destruction of such\nrecords, the commissioner of education shall deliver a list of the\nrecords to be disposed of or destroyed to the attorney general, the\ncomptroller and the state agency that transferred such records. No state\nrecords listed therein shall be destroyed if within thirty days after\nreceipt of such list the attorney general, comptroller, or the agency\nthat transferred such records shall notify the commissioner of education\nthat in his opinion such state records should not be destroyed.\n (c) To agree to the deposit of noncurrent state records in the state\nrecords center.\n (d) To review plans submitted by state agencies for management of\ntheir records and to make recommendations thereupon to the head of the\nstate agency and the director of the division of the budget.\n (e) To inquire into the condition, character, amount and method of\nkeeping such records.\n (f) To develop and implement a comprehensive and ongoing training\nprogram in records management for all state agencies.\n (g) To provide technical assistance in records management for state\nagencies.\n (h) To provide for the transfer of such records having archival value\nfrom the state records center to the state archives for their permanent\npreservation.\n (i) To develop and implement a fee schedule, to be adopted by the\nboard of regents pursuant to rules and regulations adopted in conformity\nwith the state administrative procedure act, to support records\nmanagement activities subject to the following:\n (i) the fee schedule may be changed only once in any twelve month\nperiod, and\n (ii) after the initial fee schedule is established by the board of\nregents, proposed changes to said schedule must be included in the\nannual budget request submitted to the director of the budget. Such\namended fee schedule shall not become effective until enactment of the\nbudget submitted annually by the governor to the legislature in\naccordance with article seven of the constitution, and shall generate\nrevenues consistent with appropriations contained therefor within such\nbudget and sufficient to cover anticipated expenditures for the period\nfor which such fees shall be effective.\n (j) To promulgate such other regulations as are necessary to carry out\nthe purposes of this subdivision.\n