Lauren Evans
A deleted comment. An edited post. A shut-down account. On a native social platform, all three can happen without warning, and each one can quietly destroy a public record your agency was legally required to keep.
For US state, city and county governments, social media isn’t just a communications channel anymore, it’s a records-generating one. Understanding what you’re actually required to keep, and for how long, starts with separating two different kinds of law that often get lumped together.
Disclosure laws (often called Sunshine Laws, Public Records Acts, or FOIA at the federal level) give the public the right to request access to government records that already exist.
Retention laws are a separate, earlier obligation: they legally mandate how long those records must be captured and preserved in the first place, before anyone even requests them.
This distinction matters because relying on native platforms like Facebook, X or Instagram to serve as your archive satisfies neither. Platforms let users delete comments, edit posts, or deactivate accounts entirely, and every time that happens on an unarchived account, a public record can be destroyed along with it.
Tip: This is where the gap between “communicating on social media” and “maintaining a legal record of it” becomes real. A unified inbox that logs every interaction your agency has, centrally and with a timestamp, gives you a starting record of your own activity that doesn’t disappear if a platform, or a member of the public, deletes something.
State agencies, counties, municipalities and public school districts sit outside the FRA and instead fall under their own state’s Records Management Act and State Archive Schedule. Two things to check for your own jurisdiction:
It’s worth checking carefully whether your state’s records statute applies directly to city and county government the same way it applies to state executive agencies, several states handle this separately, with local government covered by a distinct local records program or set of guidelines rather than the main state act.
Tip: Whatever the answer for your state, the safest working assumption is the same one NARA applies federally: if it was created or received in the course of official business, treat it as a record until you’ve confirmed otherwise with your state archive authority.
To hold up in court or survive a public records audit, an archived social media record generally can’t be a plain screenshot. Legal defensibility depends on the record including the underlying structural metadata, not just how a post looked at the moment it was captured.
That distinction becomes critical in two scenarios your agency is statistically likely to face at some point:
Every state has its own statutory framework and its own archive authority responsible for setting retention schedules. Explore your state’s specific requirements in our interactive lookup tool to find your state’s governing statute and the archive authority responsible for it.
Click any state on the map, or search above, to see its records retention requirements.
Primary statutory framework
Governing records retention authority
Primary statutory framework
Governing records retention authority
Connecticut
Primary statutory framework: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 11-8 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Connecticut State Library / Public Records Administrator
Maine
Primary statutory framework: 5 M.R.S. § 91 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Maine State Archives
Massachusetts
Primary statutory framework: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 66 § 1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records / State Archives
New Hampshire
Primary statutory framework: RSA 5:28 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: New Hampshire Division of Archives and Records Management
New Jersey
Primary statutory framework: N.J.S.A. 47:3-15 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Division of Archives and Records Management (DARM)
New York
Primary statutory framework: N.Y. Arts & Cult. Aff. Law § 57.05 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: New York State Archives
Pennsylvania
Primary statutory framework: 51 Pa.C.S. / State Directive 210.5
Governing records retention authority: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC)
Rhode Island
Primary statutory framework: R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-3-1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Rhode Island State Archives / Public Records Administration
Vermont
Primary statutory framework: 3 V.S.A. § 117 & 1 V.S.A. § 315 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA)
Illinois
Primary statutory framework: 5 ILCS 160/1 et seq. (State Records Act)
Governing records retention authority: Illinois State Archives / Secretary of State
Indiana
Primary statutory framework: Ind. Code § 5-15-1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Indiana Archives and Records Administration (IARA)
Iowa
Primary statutory framework: Iowa Code Ch. 305 (State Records Management Act)
Governing records retention authority: State Historical Society of Iowa / Dept. of Administrative Services
Kansas
Primary statutory framework: K.S.A. 75-3501 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Kansas Historical Society / State Records Board
Michigan
Primary statutory framework: MCL 15.231 & MCL 399.811
Governing records retention authority: DTMB Records Management Services
Minnesota
Primary statutory framework: Minn. Stat. § 138.17
Governing records retention authority: Minnesota State Archives / Minnesota Historical Society
Missouri
Primary statutory framework: RSMo Ch. 109
Governing records retention authority: Missouri State Archives / Secretary of State
Nebraska
Primary statutory framework: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1201 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Nebraska State Historical Society / Records Management Division
North Dakota
Primary statutory framework: N.D.C.C. § 54-46-01 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: North Dakota State Archives
Ohio
Primary statutory framework: R.C. 149.33 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Ohio History Connection / State Records Program
South Dakota
Primary statutory framework: S.D. Codified Laws § 1-27-9 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: South Dakota State Archives
Wisconsin
Primary statutory framework: Wis. Stat. § 16.61 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Wisconsin Public Records Board (PRB)
Alabama
Primary statutory framework: Ala. Code § 41-13-1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH)
Arkansas
Primary statutory framework: Ark. Code Ann. § 25-18-601 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Arkansas State Archives / DFA
Delaware
Primary statutory framework: 29 Del. C. § 501 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Delaware Public Archives
Florida
Primary statutory framework: Fla. Stat. Ch. 119 & Ch. 257
Governing records retention authority: Florida Division of Library and Information Services
Georgia
Primary statutory framework: O.C.G.A. § 50-18-90 et seq. (Georgia Records Act)
Governing records retention authority: Georgia Archives / Secretary of State
Kentucky
Primary statutory framework: KRS 171.410 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA)
Louisiana
Primary statutory framework: La. R.S. 44:401 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Louisiana Secretary of State / State Archives
Maryland
Primary statutory framework: Md. Code, State Gov't § 10-604 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Maryland State Archives / Records Management Division
Mississippi
Primary statutory framework: Miss. Code Ann. § 25-59-1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Mississippi Department of Archives and History
North Carolina
Primary statutory framework: N.C.G.S. § 121-5 & § 132-1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: State Archives of North Carolina / DNCR
Oklahoma
Primary statutory framework: 67 O.S. § 201 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Oklahoma Department of Libraries / Archives & Records Commission
South Carolina
Primary statutory framework: S.C. Code Ann. § 30-1-10 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: South Carolina Department of Archives and History
Tennessee
Primary statutory framework: T.C.A. § 10-7-301 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Tennessee State Library and Archives
Texas
Primary statutory framework: Tex. Gov't Code Ch. 441 & Loc. Gov't Code Ch. 201
Governing records retention authority: Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC)
Virginia
Primary statutory framework: Va. Code Ann. § 42.1-76 et seq. (VPRA)
Governing records retention authority: Library of Virginia / Records Management Division
West Virginia
Primary statutory framework: W. Va. Code § 5A-8-1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: West Virginia State Archives
Alaska
Primary statutory framework: Alaska Stat. § 40.21.010 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Alaska State Archives (RIMS)
Arizona
Primary statutory framework: A.R.S. § 41-151.12 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records
California
Primary statutory framework: Cal. Gov. Code § 12270 et seq. (State Records Management Act)
Governing records retention authority: California Secretary of State / State Archives
Colorado
Primary statutory framework: C.R.S. § 24-80-101 et seq. (State Archives Act)
Governing records retention authority: Colorado State Archives
Hawaii
Primary statutory framework: Haw. Rev. Stat. Ch. 92F & Ch. 94
Governing records retention authority: Hawaii State Archives
Idaho
Primary statutory framework: Idaho Code § 74-101 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Idaho State Historical Society / State Archives
Montana
Primary statutory framework: Mont. Code Ann. § 2-6-1001 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Montana State Archives / Secretary of State
Nevada
Primary statutory framework: NRS 239.080 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records
New Mexico
Primary statutory framework: NMSA 1978, § 14-3-1 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives
Oregon
Primary statutory framework: ORS 192.001 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Oregon State Archives / Secretary of State
Utah
Primary statutory framework: Utah Code Ann. § 63G-2-101 et seq. (GRAMA)
Governing records retention authority: Utah Division of Archives and Records Service
Washington
Primary statutory framework: RCW 40.14.010 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Washington State Archives / Secretary of State
Wyoming
Primary statutory framework: Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 9-2-401 et seq.
Governing records retention authority: Wyoming State Archives
Federal executive agencies fall under the Federal Records Act (FRA), with guidance issued by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Under NARA guidance, social media posts, direct messages, and interactive threads created or received in the course of official business are classified as federal records.
Federal agencies are required to maintain these records with complete structural metadata, UTC timestamps, author IDs, edit histories, in order to meet eDiscovery standards. A screenshot, on its own, doesn’t carry that metadata and generally won’t be sufficient on its own to meet this bar.
Meeting this bar depends on deploying archiving technology that continuously captures social media activity in the background, in real time, rather than relying on manual screenshots or the platforms themselves.
A compliant archive needs to:
Where Orlo fits directly into this picture is the engagement side: every conversation, comment and reply your agency has through Orlo is logged centrally with a timestamp, giving you a running record of your own activity rather than one scattered across platform-native tools that can be edited or deleted by others.
For the full forensic-grade capture some agencies need, raw metadata preservation, edit-history tracking, and subpoena-ready export formatting, that’s a distinct and more specialized capability, and it’s worth confirming directly with your Orlo contact exactly what’s covered before relying on it for a specific legal retention requirement.
Want to know more about how Orlo supports the Legal Archiving Mandate?
Schedule a demo of Orlo’s social media management tools.
Disclosure laws, such as state Sunshine Laws or the federal Freedom of Information Act, give the public a right to request existing government records. Retention laws separately require agencies to capture and preserve those records for a minimum period in the first place.
No. The Federal Records Act and NARA guidance apply to federal executive agencies. State agencies, counties, municipalities and school districts are instead governed by their own state’s Records Management Act and archive authority.
Generally not on its own. Legal defensibility in litigation or a public records audit typically depends on the record retaining its underlying structural metadata, timestamps, author information and edit history, which a plain screenshot doesn’t capture.
This varies by state, but retention schedules commonly range from two to seven years, with some record types, such as formal policy announcements, requiring permanent retention. Check your specific state’s retention schedule for the exact requirement.
Lauren Evans
Part of the U.S. Marketing team, Lauren brings real local government experience to shape marketing strategy and strengthen connections between public sector teams and the communities they serve.
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