The following definitions are established for terms used in this chapter. [PL 1973, c. 625, §16 (NEW).]
1. Agency records. "Agency records" means records of government agencies to which they retain legal title, but that have been transferred to the custody of the Maine State Archives to effect economies and efficiency in their storage and use pending their ultimate disposition as authorized by law.
[PL 1997, c. 636, §2 (AMD).]
2. Archives. "Archives" means government records that have been determined by the State Archivist, with advice from the Archives Advisory Board, to have sufficient value to warrant their continued preservation and that are in the physical and legal custody of the Maine State Archives.
[PL 2019, c. 50, §2 (AMD).]
2-A. Local government. "Local government" means a municipality, county, school district or other special-purpose district or multi-purpose district.
[PL 1999, c. 12, §1 (AMD).]
3. Record center. "Record center" means facilities maintained by the State Archivist for the storage, security, servicing and other processing of agency records that must be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained in office equipment and space.
[PL 1973, c. 625, §16 (NEW).]
4. State agency or agency. "State agency" or "agency" means any unit of State Government or local government, including any state board or commission, and the Legislature and its committees and subcommittees, but not including the judicial branch, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and the Maine Maritime Academy.
[PL 2019, c. 50, §3 (AMD).]
5. Record. "Record" means all documentary material, regardless of media or characteristics and regardless of when it was created, made or received or maintained by an agency in accordance with law or rule or in the transaction of its official business. "Record" does not include extra copies of printed or processed material of which official or record copies have been retained, stocks of publications and processed documents intended for distribution or use or records relating to personal matters that may have been kept in an office for convenience.
"Record" includes records of historic and archival value to the State, regardless of the date of their generation, including all documents determined to have such value to the State by statute and, when appropriate, by the State Archivist.
[PL 2009, c. 509, §1 (AMD).]
6. Electronic record. "Electronic record" means a record whose content is not readable unless retrieved by means of an electronic device such as a computer or an audio or video player. An electronic record can be in a structured database or an individual file.
[PL 2019, c. 50, §4 (AMD).]
7. Records retention schedule. "Records retention schedule" means a policy document that defines the minimum time a record must be retained and contains disposition instructions on how the record must be handled when no longer needed for agency business.
[PL 2019, c. 50, §5 (NEW).]
