A Michigan record retention schedule tells you exactly how long a specific type of record must be kept before it can legally be destroyed. Retention periods vary widely: four years for sales tax records, seven years for most local government financial documents and medical records, up to 50 years for certain payroll records, and as long as 80 years for lifetime insurance policies. Public records are the property of the state, and destroying one outside an approved disposal schedule is a misdemeanor carrying up to two years in prison and a $1,000 fine.
The Laws That Set the Rules
Three statutes drive Michigan’s system. The Management and Budget Act (MCL 18.1285) requires every state agency to list its records on a formal retention and disposal schedule and keeps legal custody with the agency until the record is transferred to the state archives or properly destroyed.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 18-1285 – The Management and Budget Act The Michigan History Center Act (MCL 399.811) declares any record kept by a public officer in official duties to be state property and forbids disposal, mutilation, or destruction except as provided by law; before anything is destroyed, a certified disposal schedule must go to the Archives of Michigan, which claims historically valuable records, and then to the State Administrative Board for final approval.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 399-811 – Michigan History Center Act The Records Reproduction Act (PA 116 of 1992) lets government entities digitize records and gives certified reproductions the same legal force as paper originals, provided reproductions stay accessible and usable through the full retention period under standards set by the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB).3Michigan Legislature. Records Reproduction Act
Local governments do not have to invent their own schedules. Michigan publishes General Retention Schedules (GS) for common record categories, drafted jointly by the originating agency, DTMB’s Records Management Services, and the Archives of Michigan, then approved by the State Administrative Board.4Department of Technology, Management & Budget. General Schedules for Local Government
How Long You Have to Keep Financial Records
General Schedule #31 sets the pattern for most local government financial documents: keep until the fiscal year ends, then seven additional years. That covers accounting transaction details, receivables, receipts, journal entries, budget summaries, balance sheets, payment records, bank activity, annual fiscal reports, and sales tax reports.5State of Michigan. General Retention Schedule 31 – Local Government Financial Records
A handful of categories break from that seven-year default:
- Annual budgets: five years after the fiscal year ends
- Final audit reports: ten years from creation
- Audit support documents: seven years after the final report is issued
- Insurance claim files: seven years after the fiscal year ends
- Insurance policies: kept as long as the insurer could still owe money on them; for lifetime coverage, 80 years is considered sufficient
The claim-versus-policy distinction trips people up. A closed claim file drops off after seven years, but the underlying policy stays on the shelf as long as the insurer’s obligation could survive.5State of Michigan. General Retention Schedule 31 – Local Government Financial Records
Personnel, Payroll, and Contract Records
General Schedule #26 governs local government personnel records, and the range is wide. Certain payroll records must be kept for 50 years after the fiscal year ends, because retirement benefit and pension disputes can surface decades after someone leaves public employment. Other personnel documents carry shorter timelines depending on their purpose.
Regulated industries can operate under different rules. Michigan Administrative Code R. 460.2559, which applies to certain utility companies, requires employee service records to be kept only three years after termination, and lets employers dispose of hiring-related documents like applications and medical exam reports at their own discretion.6Cornell Law School. Michigan Admin Code R 460-2559 – Personnel Records Retention Periods
Contract files are typically retained for the life of the agreement plus six years. That buffer matches Michigan’s six-year statute of limitations for breach of contract claims, so the paperwork is still around if a dispute surfaces years after the deal ended.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 600-5807 – Revised Judicature Act of 1961
Business, Tax, and Medical Records
Private businesses have their own retention obligations, separate from the government schedules. Under the General Sales Tax Act (MCL 205.68), anyone liable for sales tax must keep inventory records, purchase records, daily sales records, receipts, invoices, bills of lading, and supporting documents for four years after the tax is due. Blanket exemption claims follow the same four-year rule, though buyer and seller can agree in writing to a shorter term on the claim itself.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 205-68 – General Sales Tax Act
Michigan’s Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act (MCL 408.479) requires employers to keep required wage and payroll records at least three years.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 408-479 – Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act can impose longer periods for certain wage records, so employers should check that they meet both.
Licensed health care providers must keep a record for each patient. MCL 333.16213 sets the floor at seven years from the date of service unless another federal or state law, or generally accepted medical practice, requires longer. A 15-year period applies to records of medical services involving vaginal or anal penetration of a patient, subject to exceptions for certain urological, gastrointestinal, reproductive, gynecological, or sexual health services, medical emergencies, rectal drug administration, and temperature measurement. The longer period is triggered by the nature of the service, not the patient’s age; the statute does not set a separate timeline for minors.10Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 333-16213 – Retention of Records
Email and Digitized Records
Format does not change the schedule. Email content is what matters: a substantive message about a budget decision is a financial record and follows the financial schedule, while a note confirming a meeting time is transitory and can be discarded under General Schedule #1 when no longer needed for reference.11State of Michigan. Retention and Disposal Schedules FAQ Most inboxes hold both kinds, and automatic deletion settings can quietly destroy records that should have been kept.
For digitized records, the Records Reproduction Act requires that scanned versions stay accessible and usable through the entire retention period and meet the technical standards adopted by DTMB. A government body cannot scan a document and throw away the paper unless those conditions are met.3Michigan Legislature. Records Reproduction Act
Destroying Records the Right Way
Once retention expires and no legal hold applies, public records can only be disposed of through destruction or transfer to the Archives of Michigan, and the disposal must follow an approved schedule. Since May 2004, local governments no longer file a Certificate of Records Disposal (form MH-38) with the state before destroying records.12Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Disposition of Public Records
Confidential material cannot go in regular trash or recycling. Recycled paper stays intact until it reaches a paper mill, and software can reassemble strip-cut, cross-cut, and even hand-torn documents. The State of Michigan’s Confidential Records Destruction service shreds to a 1mm x 5mm particle size, and vendor employees must pass background checks and complete annual security training.13State of Michigan, Records Management Services. Destruction of Confidential Records If you use an office shredder, DTMB recommends disbursing the shreds across a larger volume of waste rather than bagging them together, which would make reconstruction easier.
Litigation Holds and FOIA Requests Override the Schedule
A litigation hold suspends normal retention for any records relevant to pending or reasonably anticipated litigation, audits, or investigations. The duty to preserve kicks in the moment you have notice, whether that is a demand letter from an attorney, notification of an audit, or a credible threat of suit. From that point on, relevant records cannot be destroyed even if their scheduled retention period has expired.14State of Michigan. Basic Records Management
This is where agencies most often run into trouble. Automated deletion, routine shredding schedules, and well-intentioned cleanups can all destroy evidence if the hold has not reached everyone who handles the records. When in doubt, the Department of Attorney General or other legal counsel should sign off before anything is destroyed.14State of Michigan. Basic Records Management
The same rule applies to any record responsive to a pending Freedom of Information Act request. Even if retention has expired, you cannot dispose of a requested record until the request and any related appeals are resolved.
Penalties for Destroying Records Improperly
Under MCL 750.491, anyone who willfully carries away, mutilates, or destroys official books, papers, or records of the state or a political subdivision, or who keeps them and refuses to hand them over when properly demanded, commits a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.15Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 750-491
Employment consequences run alongside the criminal statute. State employees who violate records policies face discipline up to termination, and contractors and volunteers can have their relationships with the agency ended.16State of Michigan, DTMB. Model Records Management Policy
The stakes climb sharply when destruction happens during litigation or an investigation. Courts can impose sanctions, issue adverse inference instructions telling the jury to assume the destroyed records were harmful to the destroying party, enter default judgments, and find civil contempt. Senior management can face vicarious liability, and in extreme cases organizations and individuals can face criminal liability for deliberate destruction of evidence.17State of Michigan, LARA. Litigation Holds Policy G-40
Who Is Responsible and Where to Check
DTMB’s Records Management Services does not audit agencies for compliance. Each agency is on its own to follow the approved schedules, and DTMB’s role is guidance, training, and tools.14State of Michigan. Basic Records Management In practice that means each department needs someone who knows which schedules apply, tracks retention timelines, communicates and enforces legal holds, and coordinates with the Archives of Michigan when records come due for disposal. The model records management policy published by DTMB lays out a framework agencies can adopt.16State of Michigan, DTMB. Model Records Management Policy
Schedules change. GS31 for financial records carries a 2009 approval date, while GS26 for human resources was updated as recently as 2022, and the shift toward electronic records continues to drive revisions.4Department of Technology, Management & Budget. General Schedules for Local Government Pull the current version from the DTMB website before you rely on a copy that has been sitting in a folder for years.