The commissioners or board of trustees of any hospital owned or owned and operated separately or jointly by one or more counties, cities, towns, supervisors districts or election districts, or combinations thereof, shall have the power and authority, in its discretion, to retire and destroy any of the following business records of the hospital at any time three (3) years after the respective dates that the same are prepared, made, received, executed, acted on or otherwise completed: intrahospital requisitions; inventory records of expendable supplies; temporary records pertaining to patients’ charges; department reports; paid invoices; purchase orders; and similar documents of temporary use and value.

In addition to the foregoing, whenever any business records which are required by law to be preserved and retained for indefinite periods, or which are necessary or desirable on the basis of sound business practices to be preserved or retained, shall have been so retained and preserved for a period of six (6) years, the commissioners or board of trustees of any such hospital shall have the power and authority, in its discretion, to retire and destroy the same. However, nothing contained herein shall authorize the retirement, destruction or disposal of any business records containing or consisting of minutes or minute books; bylaws or rules and regulations; general ledgers; disbursement registers or journals; cash receipts registers; maintenance and investment accounts; inventory records; ledger cards, sheets or other records of unpaid accounts receivable; other evidence of unpaid indebtedness; budgets; audit reports; licenses or permits; abstracts or certificates of title; geological reports; engineering or architectural plans, specifications or drawings; or any other business records which are otherwise required by law, order or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, applicable rules and regulations or sound business practices to be retained permanently or for longer periods than six (6) years.

Except as otherwise provided by law, order or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, or applicable rules and regulations, any privately owned and operated hospital may retire any business records at such times as in its judgment may conform to sound business practices and the reasonable accommodation of other interested parties.

Any hospital may, in its discretion, and at any time, cause any part of its business records to be reproduced in like manner and with like effect as provided in Section 41-9-77 with respect to hospital records. However, this shall not be construed to permit the destruction, retirement or earlier retirement of any business record which is otherwise prohibited or deferred by this section.