ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 55

quests for filing equipment were reviewed to assure that all useless records had
been destroyed and that used equipment was utilized before new equipment
was purchased. Purchase requisitions for microfilm equipment, rapid-copy
machines, and a map-reproducing machine were also investigated and appro-
priate recommendations made. These cooperative efforts resulted in a con-
siderable saving to the State.

More detailed information regarding the activities and accomplishments
of the Division will be found in the pages that follow, but here it seems appro-
priate to call special attention to a situation which, if permitted to continue,
will limit the effectiveness of the records management program.

The Act of the Legislature which established the records management
program (Article 41, Sections 152-157, 1951 Code, as amended) contains as
a part thereof the requirement that no public record required by statute to
be maintained permanently shall be destroyed. Whenever statutory enactments
with respect to a State agency require the maintenance of original records or
imply that original records should be retained, the Attorney General has con-
strued these enactments in favor of permanent retention. Only if the statute
governing the activities of an agency contains no indication that its records
must be retained has he felt free to advise that the requirement that each State
agency shall "..... develop a continuing program for the economical and effi-
cient management of its records ....." applies. Since the law which permits
the substitution of microfilm copies for the original record is contained in the
same Act, he also has felt compelled to advise that, even though these records
were microfilmed, the originals could not be destroyed.

The legal inability of State agencies such as the Racing Commission to
destroy any records, however obsolete, or to take advantage of the economies
which microfilm can make available, motivated the Hall of Records to seek
remedial legislation at the 1955 session of the General Assembly. Unfortunate-
ly, this legislation failed of passage.

RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULES

The tables below list the 142 schedules established during the year for
State, county, and bi-county agencies.

	State Agencies No. of Schedules		No. Record Series
	Administrator of Loan Laws ....................................	1	2
	Bank Commissioner ................................................	1	2
	Central Payroll Bureau ............................................	1	1
	Comptroller of the Treasury ....................................	2	10
	Eastern Shore State Hospital .... ..........................	1	6
	State Department of Education ............. ...... .....	7	19
	Department of Employment Security ........................	7	41
	Department of Forests and Parks .....................	3	23