Q&A: Record retention

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From The Republic (Columbus):

Q: Do you know if there is a record retention requirement for public notice advertisement affidavits? Our current policy is to keep them for seven years, which seems to be overkill to me. 

A: Seven years has always been the rule of thumb for the time to preserve tax records, but I think most actions that could be initiated concerning matters requiring public notice would be two years.

Factoring the court time elapsed before discovery starts in earnest, I’d say three years would be a safe time period to maintain your records.

If a request came in for proof of publication after three years, the newspaper could always rely on its archives to find the notice in question.

Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law questions at skey@hspa.com or (317) 624-4427.