Florida Records Retention Schedule: GS1-SL and What an Agency Must Keep
TL;DR: A Florida records retention schedule tells an agency how long it must keep each kind of record. The Department of State sets them, and most offices use the GS1-SL plus a schedule for their own work. An agency that throws out a record too soon breaks the law.
What is a records retention schedule?
A records retention schedule is a list of record types, with a time to keep each one. That time is the retention period. It is the least amount of time the office must hold on to the record.
When the time runs out, the office may get rid of the record. The law calls this disposal, and it must follow the rules. Records of lasting value may go to the state archive instead.
An office may retain a record longer, but it may not cut the time short. A record can be a paper document, an email, or a text.
The schedule puts like records in groups, and each group is a record series. Think of all the bills a city pays, or all the minutes of a board. The state sets a time to keep or dispose of each series (Section 119.021(2)(d), Fla. Stat.).
Who sets the Florida records retention schedule?
The Division of Library and Information Services sets it, as part of the Florida Department of State. The Florida Statutes tell it to set the schedules and the way to dispose of records. Section 119.021(2)(a), Fla. Stat.
Each of the state agencies, and each city and county office, must follow those rules. The rules are in Chapters 1B-24 and 1B-26 of the Florida Administrative Code. Section 119.021(2)(b), Fla. Stat.
The state's records management staff also give advice to officials on how to care for their files. They may check the state of an agency's files when they need to (Section 119.021(2)(d), Fla. Stat.).
Think a schedule is wrong? A person it affects may be able to get a hearing to challenge it. L.R. v. Department of State, 488 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986).
What records does the GS1-SL records retention schedule cover?
The GS1-SL is the General Records Schedule for State and Local Government Agencies. It is the main schedule the state has approved for state and local offices. It covers the records that most of them keep.
Think of letters, staff files, payroll, money records, and legal records. Each item on the list names a record series and the least time to keep it.
It also covers texts and emails. What a message says and why the agency has it set how long it stays. The phone or the app used to send it does not change that.
You can read the GS1-SL for free on the Department of State's general records schedules page. Its records management FAQ explains how agencies use it.
When does an agency use another schedule?
Some offices do work that most others do not. For that work, the State of Florida has other retention schedules, GS2 through GS15. The office uses them along with the GS1-SL.
- GS2: police and other criminal justice offices, state attorneys, and medical examiners.
- GS3: election records.
- GS4: public hospitals and other public health care providers.
- GS5: public universities and colleges.
- GS7: public schools.
- GS8: fire departments.
- GS11 to GS15: clerks of court, property appraisers, tax collectors, public utilities, and public libraries.
The Attorney General has pointed to the GS2 for police evidence. Informal Opinion to Blair, August 24, 2011.
Some records are not on any general schedule. Then the office asks the state to approve a schedule of its own.
Do the courts and the Legislature use the same schedule?
No. Court rules 2.430 and 2.440 set the time to keep court records and other court files. The House and the Senate set their own rules for the records they keep.
Can a Florida agency throw out public records when it wants?
No. An agency may destroy a public record only as the schedule allows (Section 257.36(6), Fla. Stat.).
Officials must clear out old files in an orderly way, with the consent of the state's records staff. Section 119.021(2)(c), Fla. Stat.
The Attorney General has applied this rule many times. A city may not pull and destroy a worker's discipline notices, even if the worker says yes (AGO 94-75).
The same retention requirements apply to email, to a city's Facebook page, and to tapes of a public meeting. AGOs 96-34, 09-19, and 75-45.
An office also may not wipe out a record just because an outside group told it to (AGO 98-54).
In one case, a county board and some of its staff deleted texts as a habit, whatever they said. A trial court found that this broke Section 119.021. Raydient LLC v. Nassau County (Fla. 4th Cir. Ct. 2021).
Must an agency keep an exempt record?
Yes. An exempt record is one the law lets the office keep from the public. But that does not let it throw the record away before its time (AGO 93-86).
The duty to keep it safe still applies, and so do the limits on when it may go (AGO 81-12). Both come from Section 119.021 of the Florida Statutes.
What about copies?
The schedules also cover copies. An office that names a digital copy as its master record may then treat the paper as a copy. It may get rid of the paper on the schedule for copies (AGO 18-04).
Does a public records request stop an agency from destroying a record?
In one case, yes. The custodian is the person in charge of the records. Say the custodian tells you that what you want is not a public record at all.
Then the office may not dispose of it for 30 days after your written request. If you sue in those 30 days, it needs a court order to dispose of it. Section 119.07(1)(h), Fla. Stat.
Once you serve a records suit, the custodian may not move, change, or destroy the record. It must wait until the court says so (Section 119.11(4), Fla. Stat.).
The Department of State also tells offices to hold off on destruction. Its FAQ says to wait at least 30 days after the last records request.
So put your public records request in writing, and keep a copy that shows the date. If you think the agency is wrong, do not wait long to act.
Where must an agency keep its records?
Public records should stay in the building where the agency uses them (Section 119.021(1)(a), Fla. Stat.). An official should not take them home to keep (AGO 93-16).
When an official leaves office, the records go to the next person in the job (Section 119.021(4)(a)). The records do not belong to the official who made them. Maxwell v. Pine Gas Corp., 195 So. 2d 602 (Fla. 4th DCA 1967).
What happens if an agency destroys records too soon?
A public officer who breaks any part of Chapter 119 commits a noncriminal infraction. That is a wrong that is not a crime, with a fine of up to $500. Section 119.10(1)(a), Fla. Stat.
Any person who breaks the chapter on purpose and with knowledge commits a misdemeanor, a lesser crime. Section 119.10(2)(a), Fla. Stat.
A public servant also may not hide or destroy an official record to cause harm or gain a benefit. Section 838.022(1)(b), Fla. Stat.
A lost record can still matter in court. A judge should not toss your records suit just because the office says its policy would have destroyed the record. Brown v. State, 152 So. 3d 739, 741 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014).
In another case, the office showed a card saying it had destroyed a weapon. The requester said more records were out there, so the court had to look at the facts. Tracy v. State, 219 So. 3d 958 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017).
For more, see penalties for breaking Florida public records law and how to sue a Florida agency for public records.
What should you ask when an agency says the record is gone?
Start by asking which schedule covers the record. Ask for the name of the schedule, such as the GS1-SL, and the item on it that fits your record.
Then ask when the office got rid of the record. Check that date against the retention period and against the date you sent your request.
Last, ask how the office looked for it. Ask which files, which accounts, and which people it checked before it told you no.
Agencies get many records requests, and a short reply is not always the full story. For more, see what to do when an agency says records do not exist.
Related
- When an agency says records do not exist
- Electronic records and metadata
- Are texts from elected officials public records?
- Are public employee personnel records public?
- Penalties for breaking the public records law
- What to do after a denial
- What to do when an agency ignores your request
Frequently asked questions
- Who sets the Florida records retention schedule?
- The Division of Library and Information Services, part of the Florida Department of State. Each agency must follow its rules.
- What is the GS1-SL?
- It is the General Records Schedule for State and Local Government Agencies. It sets how long many common records must stay on file.
- Which records retention schedule applies to my agency?
- Most offices use the GS1-SL. Many also use a schedule for their own kind of work, such as the GS2 for police.
- Can an agency throw out a public record whenever it wants?
- No. An agency may get rid of a public record only as the schedule allows. Throwing out records outside the schedule breaks Florida law.
- Does my request stop the agency from throwing the record out?
- If the agency says the record is not public, it must keep it for 30 days after your written request. If you sue in that time, only a court can let it go.
- Do texts and emails have a retention period too?
- Yes. What a message says and why the agency has it set how long it stays. The device or app does not.
- Must an agency keep an exempt record?
- Yes. An exemption only closes the record to the public. The agency must still keep it on the schedule.
Not legal advice. Educational and informational content only. Reading this site does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice on a specific matter, consult a licensed Florida attorney.