In this Part I of this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. “Department” means a principal department of the Executive Branch of the State government. “Division” means the Records Management Division of the Department of General Services. “Form” means a document that has a standard format for the systematic and repetitive collection, maintenance, or transmission of information. “Independent unit” means a unit of the State government that is not in a department. “Plan” means a forms management plan for a department or independent unit.

The head of each department and each independent unit shall designate, from among its staff, a forms management officer for the department or independent unit. The forms management officer shall: subject to the approval of the Division: keep a current plan for the management of the forms that the unit uses; and administer the plan; and submit the plan, including each revision, to the Division.

The plan shall: ensure that the forms management officer approves the use of a form by the department or independent unit only if the form: is needed for the effective or efficient operation of the department or independent unit; requests information that is needed for or relevant to a lawful purpose of the department or independent unit; does not impose an undue burden on the individual who is to complete the form; is as brief, as plainly written, as well designed, and as easily completed as possible; and does not duplicate unnecessarily: another form of the department or independent unit; or a form of another department or independent unit; require a register of the forms that the forms management officer approves; require identification of each form in accordance with a standard identification system of the Division; provide for the most economical system by which to prepare, reproduce, and use a form; and require the forms management officer: to review periodically each form that has been approved to determine whether the officer still approves the form; and if not, to remove the form from the register. In addition to any duties set forth elsewhere, the Division shall: develop a standard identification system to identify forms; help each department and independent unit to: develop a proposed plan; and coordinate the proposed plan with other plans; review each proposed plan; approve each proposed plan that meets the requirements of this section; and monitor and help in the administration of each plan to ensure compliance. In the preparation of a form that requires identification of individuals by race, a department or independent unit shall include the following racial categories: American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; and White. A form that requires identification of individuals by race shall include instructions that multiracial respondents may select all applicable racial categories. Respondents shall select their own answers, except when it is not possible for the respondent to do so. In the event that a respondent is not able to select an answer, an observer, such as a family member or friend, may select the answer on behalf of the respondent. A form that requires identification of individuals by race shall include a separate question about whether a respondent is of Hispanic or Latino origin, with the question preceding the racial category question.

A department or independent unit may use only the forms that are listed on its register of approved forms.

In this Part II of this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. “Archives” means the State Archives. “Division” means the Records Management Division of the Department of General Services. “Program” means a program for the management of the records of a unit of the State government. “Records officer” means any individual designated under § 10–610(b) of this subtitle.

The Division and the State Archivist jointly shall adopt regulations to: define the character of records of archival quality; determine the quantity of those records; set standards for the development of record retention and disposal schedules; and provide for the periodic transfer to the State Archivist or disposal of records, in accordance with the schedules.

Each unit of the State government shall have a program for the continual, economical, and efficient management of the records of the unit. The program shall include procedures for: the security of the records; the establishment and revision, in accordance with the regulations, record retention and disposal schedules to ensure the prompt and orderly disposition of records, including electronic records, that the unit no longer needs for its operation; the maintenance of inventories of records series that are accurate and complete; and the transfer of permanent records to the custody of the Archives. Each head of a unit of State government shall designate, from among the unit’s executive staff, a records officer for the unit to: serve as liaison to the Division and the Archives; and develop and oversee the program.

The Division shall: inspect the records of the units of the State government; study the records management practices of the units of State government; review a proposal to buy or rent equipment, storage space, or services for records, including microfilming or photocopying, and, as appropriate, make recommendations about the proposal to: the Department of Budget and Management; or the Board of Public Works; on July 1, 1985 and for each subsequent 5–year period, report a series analysis of the character and quantity of records that a unit of the State government holds and that an official of the State government or the head of a unit is required or is permitted to offer to the State Archives; and otherwise further the programs of each unit of the State government.

In this Part III of this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. “Archives” means the State Archives. “Commission” means the Hall of Records Commission. “Public official” includes an official of the State or of a county, city, or town in the State. “Record” means any documentary material in any form created or received by any agency in connection with the transaction of public business. “Records inventory” means a survey of all records series maintained by an agency resulting in an itemized compilation of the records in the possession of the agency.

Except as expressly provided in § 10–619 of this subtitle, this Part III of this subtitle does not authorize: the destruction of a permanent book of account; the destruction of a land record of a clerk of a circuit court; the destruction of any record that relates to the financial operation of a unit of the State government or to collection of State taxes until the requirements of §§ 2–1220 through 2–1227 of this article are met; the destruction of any record until the expiration of the period that a statute expressly sets for that record to be kept; the destruction of any public record that a statute expressly requires to be kept permanently; or the destruction of any record of a court of record unless: the destruction is authorized under § 1–605(d)(6) or § 2–205 of the Courts Article; an accurate transcript of the record is in use; or the record relates to the internal management of or otherwise is a housekeeping record for an office of a clerk of court or register of wills.

In accordance with the record retention and disposal schedules, a public official shall offer to the Archives any public record of the official that no longer is needed, such as: an original paper; a book; a file; a record of a court of record for which an accurate transcript is in use; a record that relates to the internal management of or otherwise is a housekeeping record for an office of a clerk of court or register of wills; or any other written or recorded materials regardless of their physical form or characteristics. Records accepted for transfer to the Archives shall be accompanied by a records inventory. With the written approval of the State Archivist, a public official may destroy the record that the public official offers under this section, but the Archives declines to accept. After records are destroyed, the public official shall send to the Archives: a list of the records that were destroyed; and a certificate of destruction. The State Archivist shall keep each list of the records destroyed under this subsection. The list shall be available for public inspection at reasonable times.

A public official may offer to the Archives or may destroy any of the following materials that the public official no longer needs: a book, magazine, or newspaper; other library or museum material that was made or acquired for reference or exhibition purposes; an extra copy of a document that was kept only for convenience of reference; a stock of publications; an acceptance or refusal of an invitation or engagement of a public officer; and material that otherwise relates to personal business of a public officer. The State Archivist may set classes of materials that the public official may destroy if the public official no longer needs the materials.

A public official may offer to the Archives any portrait that is in the custody of the public official but is no longer used.

With the written approval of the State Archivist, the head of a unit of the State government or of a unit of a county or municipal corporation may destroy original material that has been photographed, photocopied, or microphotographed if: the head offers the original material to the Archives, but the Archives declines to accept; the copy is made in a manner that meets the standard of quality of the Archives for permanent photographic records; the copy is placed in an adequately accessible container; and provisions are made: for the preservation, examination, and use of the copy in a manner that the Archives approves; and as to a record that a statute otherwise expressly requires to be kept permanently, for the copy to be available, on request, in the same manner as the original material. After materials are destroyed under this section, the head of the unit shall send to the Archives: a list of the materials that were destroyed; and a certificate of destruction. The State Archivist shall keep each list of the materials destroyed under this section. The list shall be available for public inspection at reasonable times.