Sec. 7-109. Destruction of documents.

Any official, board or commissioner of a municipality may, with the approval of the chief administrative officer of such municipality and of the Public Records Administrator, destroy any document in his or its custody relating to any matter which has been disposed of and of which no record is required by law to be kept, after such document has been held for the period of time specified in a retention schedule adopted by the Public Records Administrator. The tax collector may, with like approval, destroy any duplicate record receipt book, duplicate tax receipts or rate bills, at a time specified by the Public Records Administrator. The tax collector may, with like approval, destroy any old age assistance or personal tax records. The town clerk may, with like approval, destroy any liquor permit, any corporation annual report, any registration list of motor vehicles, any voting check list, any tax list or abstract, any tax lien, release of tax lien, attachment or any original document lodged with him for record, of which the proper owner or owners are not known to him, and which has remained in his office uncalled for, at a time specified by the Public Records Administrator. In lieu of destroying any document, under any provision of this section, any official, board or commissioner of a municipality may, with like approval, deposit the same in the custody of any society incorporated or organized under the laws of this state exclusively for historical or educational purposes; provided all documents so deposited shall be maintained and made available by such society for the use of the public. No original document dated prior to the year 1900 shall be destroyed under the provisions of this section without the express written approval of the Public Records Administrator.

(1949 Rev., S. 695; 1953, S. 269d; 1957, P.A. 332; 1959, P.A. 144; 1963, P.A. 7; 1967, P.A. 470; P.A. 73-448; P.A. 80-338, S. 6; P.A. 13-276, S. 1.)

History: 1959 act added provision for destruction of release of tax lien and copy of writ and added provision regulating destruction of documents which are recorded in town's land records; 1963 act allowed destruction of any tax list after 15 years, former law only permitting destruction of lists dated prior to 1913; 1967 act removed prohibition against clerk or tax collector destroying records of matters not required by law to be kept, allowed such destruction according to schedule published by examiner of public records rather than after 6 years, allowed destruction of duplicate rate bills, personal tax records, abstracts and uncalled for or unclaimed original documents, deleted provisions for destruction of land documents, added provisions re disposition of documents for historical and educational purposes and forbade destruction of original documents dating before 1850; P.A. 73-448 replaced examiner of public records with administrator of public records, deleted specific time periods after which destruction of various records allowed, leaving their destruction subject to times set by public records administrator; P.A. 80-338 replaced “administrative head” with “chief administrative officer” and “state librarian” with “public records administrator” and replaced “1850” with “1900” in prohibition against destruction of old documents; P.A. 13-276 removed exemption for retention of duplicate tax receipts as permanent records for receipts destroyed under section.

Notation

See Sec. 7-14 re land records.

See Sec. 9-307 re preservation of election check lists and certified copies of lists.

See Sec. 11-8(b) re appointment of Public Records Administrator.

See Sec. 11-8i et seq. re historic documents preservation grant program for municipalities.

Duties of town clerk discussed in re zoning regulations. 155 C. 12. Cited. 216 C. 253; 240 C. 824.

Cited. 41 CA 641; judgment reversed, see 240 C. 824.