Division of archives and records management — State archivist — Powers and duties — Duties of public officials.

RCW 40.14.020
in effect
Sign in to generate a plain English summaryAsk Belisarius Agent
All public records shall be and remain the property of the state of Washington. They shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors and shall be preserved, stored, transferred, destroyed or disposed of, and otherwise managed, only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. In order to insure the proper management and safeguarding of public records, the division of archives and records management is established in the office of the secretary of state. The state archivist, who shall administer the division and have reasonable access to all public records, wherever kept, for purposes of information, surveying, or cataloguing, shall undertake the following functions, duties, and responsibilities: (1) To manage the archives of the state of Washington; (2) To centralize the archives of the state of Washington, to make them available for reference and scholarship, and to insure their proper preservation; (3) To inspect, inventory, catalog, and arrange retention and transfer schedules on all record files of all state departments and other agencies of state government; (4) To insure the maintenance and security of all state public records and to establish safeguards against unauthorized removal or destruction; (5) To establish and operate such state record centers as may from time to time be authorized by appropriation, for the purpose of preserving, servicing, screening and protecting all state public records which must be preserved temporarily or permanently, but which need not be retained in office space and equipment; (6) To adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW: (a) Setting standards for the durability and permanence of public records maintained by state and local agencies; (b) Governing procedures for the creation, maintenance, transmission, cataloging, indexing, storage, or reproduction of photographic, optical, electronic, or other images of public documents or records in a manner consistent with current standards, policies, and procedures of Washington technology solutions for the acquisition of information technology; (c) Governing the accuracy and durability of, and facilitating access to, photographic, optical, electronic, or other images used as public records; or (d) To carry out any other provision of this chapter; (7) To gather and disseminate to interested agencies information on all phases of records management and current practices, methods, procedures, techniques, and devices for efficient and economical management and preservation of records; (8) To operate a central microfilming bureau which will microfilm, at cost, records approved for filming by the head of the office of origin and the archivist; to approve microfilming projects undertaken by state departments and all other agencies of state government; and to maintain proper standards for this work; (9) To maintain necessary facilities for the review of records approved for destruction and for their economical disposition by sale or burning; directly to supervise such destruction of public records as shall be authorized by the terms of this chapter; (10) To assist and train state and local agencies in the proper methods of creating, maintaining, cataloging, indexing, transmitting, storing, and reproducing photographic, optical, electronic, or other images used as public records; (11) To solicit, accept, and expend donations as provided in RCW 43.07.037 for the purpose of the archive program. These purposes include, but are not limited to, acquisition, accession, interpretation, and display of archival materials. Donations that do not meet the criteria of the archive program may not be accepted. All public records shall be and remain the property of the state of Washington. They shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors and shall be preserved, stored, transferred, destroyed or disposed of, and otherwise managed, only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. In order to insure the proper management and safeguarding of public records, the division of archives and records management is established in the office of the secretary of state. The state archivist, who shall administer the division and have reasonable access to all public records, wherever kept, for purposes of information, surveying, or cataloguing, shall undertake the following functions, duties, and responsibilities: (1) To manage the archives of the state of Washington; (2) To centralize the archives of the state of Washington, to make them available for reference and scholarship, and to insure their proper preservation; (3) To inspect, inventory, catalog, and arrange retention and transfer schedules on all record files of all state departments and other agencies of state government; (4) To insure the maintenance and security of all state public records and to establish safeguards against unauthorized removal or destruction; (5) To establish and operate such state record centers as may from time to time be authorized by appropriation, for the purpose of preserving, servicing, screening and protecting all state public records which must be preserved temporarily or permanently, but which need not be retained in office space and equipment; (6) To adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW: (a) Setting standards for the durability and permanence of public records maintained by state and local agencies; (b) Governing procedures for the creation, maintenance, transmission, cataloging, indexing, storage, or reproduction of photographic, optical, electronic, or other images of public documents or records in a manner consistent with current standards, policies, and procedures of Washington technology solutions for the acquisition of information technology; (c) Governing the accuracy and durability of, and facilitating access to, photographic, optical, electronic, or other images used as public records; or (d) To carry out any other provision of this chapter; (7) To gather and disseminate to interested agencies information on all phases of records management and current practices, methods, procedures, techniques, and devices for efficient and economical management and preservation of records; (8) To operate a central microfilming bureau which will microfilm, at cost, records approved for filming by the head of the office of origin and the archivist; to approve microfilming projects undertaken by state departments and all other agencies of state government; and to maintain proper standards for this work; (9) To maintain necessary facilities for the review of records approved for destruction and for their economical disposition by sale or burning; directly to supervise such destruction of public records as shall be authorized by the terms of this chapter; (10) To assist and train state and local agencies in the proper methods of creating, maintaining, cataloging, indexing, transmitting, storing, and reproducing photographic, optical, electronic, or other images used as public records; (11) To solicit, accept, and expend donations as provided in RCW 43.07.037 for the purpose of the archive program. These purposes include, but are not limited to, acquisition, accession, interpretation, and display of archival materials. Donations that do not meet the criteria of the archive program may not be accepted.
Source: WA Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=40.14&full=trueFetched: 6/29/2026

Starting a business in Washington? Washington LLC guide: costs and requirements