Federal Records Act & Records Management

The Federal Records Act establishes the legal framework for how the United States government creates, maintains, preserves, and disposes of its records — from routine administrative files to historically significant documents. The law vests authority in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to set standards, inspect agency practices, and preserve permanently valuable records, while requiring every agency head to maintain an active records management program. In an era of electronic communications and cloud storage, federal records law has become central to government transparency, legal compliance, and historical preservation.

Current Law (2026)

Legal Authority

• 44 U.S.C. § 2102 — Establishment (creates the National Archives and Records Administration as an independent establishment in the executive branch, administered by the Archivist)
• 44 U.S.C. § 2103 — Officers (Archivist appointed by the President with Senate confirmation; must be selected without regard to political affiliation, solely on professional qualifications)
• 44 U.S.C. § 2902 — Objectives of records management (sets goals: accurate and complete documentation of government activities, controls over records creation and maintenance, simplification of records management, and judicious preservation of permanent records)
• 44 U.S.C. § 2904 — General responsibilities (Archivist provides guidance on economical and effective records management, adequate documentation of government policies and transactions, and proper records disposition)
• 44 U.S.C. § 2906 — Inspection of agency records (Archivist may inspect records and records management practices of any federal agency to make recommendations for improvement)
• 44 U.S.C. § 2911 — Electronic messaging disclosure requirement (officers and employees using non-official electronic messaging accounts for official business must copy an official account; records must be preserved within 20 days)
• 44 U.S.C. § 3101 — Records management by agency heads (agency heads must make and preserve records containing adequate documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency)
• 44 U.S.C. § 3105 — Safeguards (agency heads must establish safeguards against removal or loss of records, including notifying employees that records cannot be removed and that unauthorized removal is a criminal offense)
• 44 U.S.C. § 3106 — Unlawful removal or destruction (agency heads must notify the Archivist of any actual, impending, or threatened unlawful removal, defacing, alteration, or destruction of records and initiate action to recover or prevent loss)

How It Works

The Federal Records Act imposes a dual obligation. NARA sets government-wide standards and provides guidance, while each agency head bears direct responsibility for creating, maintaining, and disposing of records properly. This is not a passive obligation — agencies must establish active, continuing records management programs covering everything from creation to final disposition.

Records creation is mandatory: agencies must document their organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions in sufficient detail to protect legal and financial rights and furnish the information necessary for proper government accountability. This means agencies cannot simply avoid creating records to avoid transparency obligations.

Records management programs must address the entire lifecycle: creation, maintenance, use, and disposition. Agencies must have retention schedules (approved by NARA) specifying how long each type of record must be kept and whether it is ultimately destroyed or transferred to the National Archives as a permanent record. NARA (see National Archives & Presidential Records) operates federal records centers across the country that store billions of pages of semi-active agency records. Records management also intersects with Privacy Act obligations governing how agencies handle personally identifiable information.

The electronic messaging provision (§ 2911) — added in response to controversies over officials using personal email for government business — requires that any officer or employee using a non-official electronic messaging account for official business must copy an official account. If copying isn't possible at the time, the record must be forwarded to an official account within 20 days. This provision bridges the gap between modern communication practices and traditional records preservation.

Unlawful removal or destruction of federal records is a serious matter. Agency heads must report any actual or threatened unauthorized removal or destruction to the Archivist, who can request the Attorney General to initiate enforcement action. Willful and unlawful destruction of federal records is a criminal offense.

The Archivist's inspection authority allows NARA to review any agency's records and records management practices. While NARA generally works cooperatively with agencies, the inspection power provides a backstop when agencies fail to meet records management standards.

How It Affects You

State Variations

Implementing Regulations

• 36 CFR Part 1200 — NARA organization and functions (mission, organization, authority of the Archivist of the United States)

• 36 CFR Part 1201 — NARA collection of information and records (privacy, FOIA, declassification)

• 36 CFR Parts 1220–1239 — Federal records management (creation, maintenance, use, and disposition of federal records; records management programs; vital records; microform and electronic records). Key Part within this series:

  • 36 CFR Part 1222 — Creation and Maintenance of Federal Records (16 sections, implementing 44 U.S.C. § 2904): the foundational regulation defining what constitutes a federal record and how agencies must manage record creation. While Part 1236 addresses electronic records specifically, Part 1222 addresses the threshold question every agency employee faces: is this a record I must keep? The answer depends on the definition of "federal record" and its distinction from "nonrecord material":
    • § 1222.10 — Federal record defined: a federal record is any documentary material, regardless of form or medium, made or received by a federal agency in connection with the transaction of public business; the definition is media-neutral — paper, email, text message, voicemail, and electronic file can all be federal records; the defining criterion is connection to agency business, not the medium
    • § 1222.12 — Nonrecord material: material that does not meet the federal record definition and is not required to be kept — including library and museum material maintained for reference, stocks of forms and publications, duplicate copies kept only for convenience, and personal papers not related to official duties; agencies must distinguish records from nonrecord materials in their recordkeeping requirements
    • § 1222.14 — Personal files: documentary material, whether in hard copy or electronic form, relating solely to an individual's personal affairs, such as information about health, finances, or family affairs, that is not created or received in the course of transacting government business; personal files are not federal records even if kept in a government office; if a document mixes personal and official content, the official portion is a federal record
    • § 1222.20 — Recordkeeping requirements: each agency must develop and issue recordkeeping requirements to its staff — instructions explaining which documents generated by each program or function are federal records, how long they must be retained, and how they must be stored; without written recordkeeping requirements, employees make inconsistent decisions about what to keep, creating gaps in the historical record and audit trail

• 36 CFR Part 1236 — Electronic Records Management (26 sections — NARA's detailed technical requirements for managing records in electronic form; the most operationally specific of the 1220–1239 series, covering how agencies must structure, maintain, migrate, and preserve records created and stored in electronic information systems). Key provisions:

  • § 1236.10 — Records management controls: agencies must establish controls ensuring that federal records in electronic systems can be identified, retrieved, protected, and scheduled for disposition; controls include metadata requirements, access restrictions, audit trails, and the ability to produce records in a readable format for any authorized requester — including future FOIA requesters, OIG investigators, and courts
  • § 1236.12 — Capital planning: records management and preservation requirements must be built into electronic information systems as part of the agency's capital planning and IT investment process; agencies that fail to build in records controls at design cannot bolt them on later without major rework; NARA and OMB require records management sign-off as part of the Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) process for major IT investments
  • § 1236.14 — Technological obsolescence: agencies must design and implement migration strategies to counteract hardware and software dependencies of electronic records — the practical problem is that a record stored in a 1990s proprietary word processor format cannot be reliably retrieved today; migration strategies must preserve both the content and the contextual information (metadata) needed to understand and authenticate the record; agencies must document migration histories
  • § 1236.20 — Appropriate recordkeeping systems: agencies may use electronic or paper recordkeeping systems, or combinations, depending on the needs of specific programs; the choice must be documented and justified; electronic systems must be capable of capturing, maintaining, and retrieving records throughout their full lifecycle — from creation through final disposition (transfer to NARA for permanent records; destruction for temporary records after their retention period)
  • § 1236.22 — Email records management: agencies must issue instructions to staff covering: which email messages constitute federal records; how to capture and preserve email records (routing to a record-keeping system, not just leaving in personal inboxes); email subject line and content standards; how to handle large attachments; and how to preserve email metadata (sender, recipients, dates, thread structure) — the metadata often proves intent and context in litigation and investigations; auto-delete features on official email systems violate these requirements unless approved records schedules exist
  • § 1236.24 — Unstructured electronic records: agencies managing unstructured records (documents, presentations, spreadsheets stored in shared drives or collaboration platforms like SharePoint or Teams) must ensure those records are filed in a manner that maintains their context and enables retrieval by authorized parties; the shift to cloud collaboration tools has made this requirement increasingly challenging — NARA has issued supplemental guidance on collaboration tool records management
  • § 1236.26 — System maintenance: agencies must maintain inventories of electronic information systems and review them periodically for compliance with records management requirements; systems must be tested to verify that records can be successfully retrieved throughout their retention period; decommissioned systems require records migration to current systems before shutdown — legacy data cannot simply be abandoned when a system is replaced

• 36 CFR Parts 1250–1256 — Access to records (NARA FOIA procedures, public availability, access to archival materials and donated historical materials)

Pending Legislation

No standalone federal records management reform bills pending in the 119th Congress.

Recent Developments

Federal records management has been transformed by the shift to electronic records. NARA's "M-19-21" directive required agencies to manage all permanent records in electronic format by the end of 2022 and to close agency paper records storage facilities. The transition has been uneven — some agencies have modernized records systems, while others struggle with legacy paper collections and outdated IT. Controversies over officials' use of personal email, encrypted messaging apps, and auto-deleting messages have driven legislative attention to § 2911 and broader electronic records preservation. NARA has modernized its own operations, including digitization of its holdings and expansion of online access to historical records — part of the broader electronic government mandate in the E-Government Act.

• DOGE and federal records law — Signal and encrypted messaging controversy (2025): The DOGE team's use of Signal (an encrypted messaging app with auto-delete capability) for official government business raised immediate federal records law concerns. The Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. § 3101) requires federal employees to preserve records of official activities, including electronic communications. Signal's auto-delete feature — if used for official government business — would violate records preservation requirements unless messages were contemporaneously copied to agency recordkeeping systems. NARA issued guidance reminding agencies that all official communications on any platform must be preserved; compliance among DOGE personnel (many of whom are Special Government Employees or private contractors rather than traditional federal employees) remains contested. Congressional Democrats have requested NARA audits of DOGE communications preservation.
• Agency elimination and records custody gaps (2025): DOGE-driven elimination or consolidation of federal agencies creates records custody questions. When USAID was substantially curtailed in early 2025, its records — foreign aid contracts, program documentation, country strategies — required transfer to DOS or NARA under 44 U.S.C. § 2908. The rapid operational wind-down left records custody questions unresolved; congressional oversight requests seeking USAID records have met delays. Similar issues arise for other eliminated or consolidated programs across DOE, CFPB, and other agencies where DOGE directed rapid staff reductions without standard records transfer procedures.
• Presidential Records Act tension with Trump second term (2025): NARA's authority to enforce presidential records preservation is limited — the Presidential Records Act (44 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2209) relies heavily on compliance rather than enforcement. NARA cannot compel current administration officials to preserve records in real time; its remedies are post-hoc. The Mar-a-Lago records case (resolved by dismissal after the special counsel's appointment was challenged) established that presidential records disputes are politically contested. In 2025, NARA's focus has shifted to ensuring orderly transition of Biden administration records and managing the administration of classified material under ISOO, while having limited visibility into current White House communications practices.