Fla. Stat. § 257.36 — Florida Code / Title XVIII / Chapter 257 / Section 257.36
257.36 Records and information management.
Status: in_force

(1) There is created within the Division of Library and Information Services of the Department of State a records and information management program. It is the duty and responsibility of the division to: (a) Establish and administer a records management program directed to the application of efficient and economical management methods relating to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of records. (b) Establish and operate a records center or centers primarily for the storage, processing, servicing, and security of public records that must be retained for varying periods of time but need not be retained in an agency’s office equipment or space. (c) Analyze, develop, establish, and coordinate standards, procedures, and techniques of recordmaking and recordkeeping. (d) Ensure the maintenance and security of records which are deemed appropriate for preservation. (e) Establish safeguards against unauthorized or unlawful removal or loss of records. (f) Initiate appropriate action to recover records removed unlawfully or without authorization. (g) Institute and maintain a training and information program in: 1. All phases of records and information management to bring approved and current practices, methods, procedures, and devices for the efficient and economical management of records to the attention of all agencies. 2. The requirements relating to access to public records under chapter 119. (h) Make continuous surveys of recordkeeping operations. (i) Recommend improvements in current records management practices, including the use of space, equipment, supplies, and personnel in creating, maintaining, and servicing records. (j) Establish and maintain a program in cooperation with each agency for the selection and preservation of records considered essential to the operation of government and to the protection of the rights and privileges of citizens. (k) Make, or have made, preservation duplicates, or designate existing copies as preservation duplicates, to be preserved in the place and manner of safekeeping as prescribed by the division.

(2)(a) All records transferred to the division may be held by it in a records center or centers, to be designated by it, for such time as in its judgment retention therein is deemed necessary. At such time as it is established by the division, such records as are determined by it as having historical or other value warranting continued preservation shall be transferred to the Florida State Archives. (b) Title to any record detained in any records center shall remain in the agency transferring such record to the division. When the Legislature transfers any duty or responsibility of an agency to another agency, the receiving agency shall be the custodian of public records with regard to the public records associated with that transferred duty or responsibility, and shall be responsible for the records storage service charges of the division. If an agency is dissolved and the legislation dissolving that agency does not assign an existing agency as the custodian of public records for the dissolved agency’s records, then the Cabinet is the custodian of public records for the dissolved agency, unless the Cabinet otherwise designates a custodian. The Cabinet or the agency designated by the Cabinet shall be responsible for the records storage service charges of the division. (c) When a record held in a records center is eligible for destruction, the division shall notify, in writing, by certified mail, the agency which transferred the record. The agency shall have 90 days from receipt of that notice to respond requesting continued retention or authorizing destruction or disposal of the record. If the agency does not respond within that time, title to the record shall pass to the division.

(3) The division may charge fees for supplies and services, including, but not limited to, shipping containers, pickup, delivery, reference, and storage. Fees shall be based upon the actual cost of the supplies and services and shall be deposited in the Records Management Trust Fund.

(4) Any preservation duplicate of any record made pursuant to this chapter shall have the same force and effect for all purposes as the original record. A transcript, exemplification, or certified copy of such preservation duplicate shall be deemed, for all purposes, to be a transcript, exemplification, or certified copy of the original record.

(5) For the purposes of this section, the term “agency” shall mean any state, county, district, or municipal officer, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other separate unit of government created or established by law. It is the duty of each agency to: (a) Cooperate with the division in complying with the provisions of this chapter and designate a records management liaison officer. (b) Establish and maintain an active and continuing program for the economical and efficient management of records.

(6) A public record may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of only in accordance with retention schedules established by the division. The division shall adopt reasonable rules not inconsistent with this chapter which shall be binding on all agencies relating to the destruction and disposition of records. Such rules shall provide, but not be limited to: (a) Procedures for complying and submitting to the division records-retention schedules. (b) Procedures for the physical destruction or other disposal of records. (c) Standards for the reproduction of records for security or with a view to the disposal of the original record.

History: s. 5, ch. 67-50; ss. 10, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 4, ch. 81-173; s. 24, ch. 83-339; s. 46, ch. 86-163; s. 8, ch. 95-296; s. 34, ch. 2000-258; s. 15, ch. 2004-335; s. 5, ch. 2015-117.