Disposing of government records

(a) Each public officer, except public officers of the judiciary and the legislative branch of government, having the care and custody of any government records shall submit to the state comptroller a list of records for disposition authorization, which shall include the name of the office, department, or bureau, the description of the records for disposal, the inclusive dates of the records, and the retention period. (b) The comptroller shall determine the disposition of the records and shall state whether the records should be: (1) Retained by the office, department, or bureau; (2) Transferred to the state archives, state records center, or other agency, and the time period at which the records shall be transferred as directed; or (3) Destroyed at the expiration of their retention period. (c) The comptroller shall have full power of disposal of all records submitted for this purpose. The disposition authorization of all records, including lists submitted by the public officers, and the action taken by the comptroller, shall be kept on proper forms, specified by the comptroller, one copy of which shall be filed in the office, department, or bureau where the records originated, one copy shall be filed in the office of the attorney general, and the original shall be filed in the state archives. (d) If requested, the comptroller shall provide assistance to the legislative branch of government or any agency or entity therein in establishing policies relating to the disposal of government records. (e) The comptroller's authority over governmental records under this section shall only apply to governmental records created after August 21, 1959.