N.Y. Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 57.25

§ 57.25. Records retention and disposition. 1. It shall be the\nresponsibility of every local officer to maintain records to adequately\ndocument the transaction of public business and the services and\nprograms for which such officer is responsible; to retain and have\ncustody of such records for so long as the records are needed for the\nconduct of the business of the office; to adequately protect such\nrecords; to cooperate with the local government's records management\nofficer on programs for the orderly and efficient management of records\nincluding identification and management of inactive records and\nidentification and preservation of records of enduring value; to dispose\nof records in accordance with legal requirements; and to pass on to his\nsuccessor records needed for the continuing conduct of business of the\noffice. In towns, records no longer needed for the conduct of the\nbusiness of the office shall be transferred to the custody of the town\nclerk for their safekeeping and ultimate disposal.\n 2. No local officer shall destroy, sell or otherwise dispose of any\npublic record without the consent of the commissioner of education. The\ncommissioner of education shall, after consultation with other state\nagencies and with local government officers, determine the minimum\nlength of time that records need to be retained. Such commissioner is\nauthorized to develop, adopt by regulation, issue and distribute to\nlocal governments records retention and disposition schedules\nestablishing minimum legal retention periods. The issuance of such\nschedules shall constitute formal consent by the commissioner of\neducation to the disposition of records that have been maintained in\nexcess of the retention periods set forth in the schedules. Such\nschedules shall be reviewed and adopted by formal resolution of the\ngoverning body of a local government prior to the disposition of any\nrecords. If any law specifically provides a retention period longer than\nthat established by the records retention and disposition schedule\nestablished herein the retention period established by such law shall\ngovern.\n