What are the laws?

Who decides what to keep and what not to keep?

The State of Wisconsin Public Records Board in Madison has oversight and accountability for the State's Records Program. The Board conducts its work through collaboration with Wisconsin governmental entities to assist in their compliance with records retention and preservation requirements. Statutory authority may be found at Wis. Stat. Sec. 16.61. Supporting the Wisconsin Statutes are UW System records management guidelines and practices.

The University Archives helps campus offices and departments to inventory records, and submits the required paperwork (called Records Retention and Disposition Authorization forms, or RDAs) to the Public Records Board. When the Board makes a decision about your records, the University Archives will notify you how to implement your policy.

My office is going paperless. What do we need to do?

Electronic records are still public records. Specific guidelines have been created by UW System for the digitization of information.