Creation and Authority
The Local Government Records Commission was established in 1987, when the County Records Commission
(which had existed since 1955) was expanded to include municipalities. See Code of Alabama 1975,
Sections 41-13-22,
41-13-23,
41-13-24.
Composition
The Local Government Records Commission consists of sixteen members; four are ex officio and the rest appointed. The ex officio members include:
The appointed members include:
- Representatives from Auburn University, the University of Alabama, and one of Alabama's historically black colleges and universities (HBCU)
- One probate judge who is not a chairman of a county commission
- One chairman of a county commission who is not a probate judge
- One county administrator
- One county taxation official
- Two city clerks
- One superintendent of a county or municipal school system
- One county sheriff
- One municipal police chief
(All local government members are chosen by the Governor and serve at the Governor's pleasure.)
Duties
The Local Government Records Commission is charged with the following responsibilities:
- Conducting surveys of public records created by counties, municipalities, and other agencies of local government
- Determining which local government records "shall be permanently preserved because of historical value and which . . . may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of. . . ."
- Issuing retention guidelines and other regulations for local government records, based on their evidential, informational, and historical value
- Approving records destruction requests submitted by local government agencies. "No county, municipal, or other local government official shall cause any . . .
record to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of without first obtaining the approval of the local government records commission" (Code of Alabama 1975, 41-13-23)