§ 38-3-7. Duties and responsibilities of agencies.
It shall be the duty of each agency to:
(1) Cooperate with the program in complying with the provisions of this chapter;
(2) Establish and maintain active and continuous procedure for the economical and efficient
management of public records, including, but not limited to, working with the administrator
to create and update records control schedules and transfer permanent records to the
state archives;
(3) Transfer records, or any reasonably segregable portion thereof not including personal
papers deemed not public pursuant to § 42-8.1-2(11), created or received by general officers, immediate staff, or a unit or individual
of the executive office whose function is to advise and assist general officers, in
the course of conducting activities which relate to or have an effect upon the carrying
out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official duties carried out on behalf
of the state. Such materials shall be transferred at the end of the elected official's
final term within thirty (30) days of leaving such office;
(4) Submit a certification of records destruction for approval by the program for each
public record the agency seeks to destroy once it has met its approved minimum retention
period. The certification of records destruction shall be the permanent replacement
for duly approved destroyed public records; and
(5) Not later than January 1, 2026, designate a records officer who has responsibility
for compliance with this chapter and has been provided orientation and training by
the public records administration regarding this chapter. The records officer:
(i) Shall establish and operate a records management program for the agency in cooperation
with the public records administration and state archives;
(ii) May delegate responsibilities to an individual within the agency at the records officer's
discretion;
(iii) Annually confirm the accuracy of the agency's records control schedule and request
amendments if necessary;
(iv) Annually submit for approval of destruction of records that have met minimum retention
periods based on the records control schedule; and
(v) May also serve as the agency forms management representative as required by § 42-84-5.