Transitory Records and Non-records Emails

A. Agencies are encouraged not to maintain emails that are transitory records or non-records. Agencies may delete them immediately without obtaining approval from the state archivist. 1. Transitory records. Transitory records are records that have limited or no administrative value to the agency and are not essential to the fulfillment of statutory obligations or to the documentation of agency functions. 2. Non-records. Non-records are kept only for convenience or reference purposes. They do not document an agency’s business. 3. Examples of transitory records and non-records include but are not limited to the following: unsolicited and junk emails not related to agency work, listserv and other email broadcast lists that require subscription (including newspapers), reminders for meetings and events (i.e., cake in the conference room, staff meeting moved from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.), personal non-work related emails received by employees. AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 44:405. HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Department of State, Office of the Office of the Secretary of State, Division of Archives, LR 29:958 (June 2003), amended LR 51:1878 (November 2025).