(1) Where there is no requirement for a permanent record to be made, the clerk, upon order of the court, may dispose of and destroy all case files of the circuit or county court which have been in existence for ten (10) years or which have been reduced to judgment and that judgment satisfied and cancelled. The clerk may also dispose of and destroy any loose records not required by law to be kept as permanent records after a period of ten (10) years. No records, however, may be destroyed without the approval of the Director of the Department of Archives and History.

(2) The files, records and other documents described herein may, upon order of the court in accordance with the provisions of this section, be electronically stored for convenience and efficiency in storage. The electronic storage of documents, for purposes of this section, shall have the same meaning as set forth in Section 9-1-51. In those counties electing to store files, records and documents by means of electronic storage, the following described case files shall be electronically stored after the time periods described below have elapsed:

(a) Cases in county criminal or civil court which have been dismissed or in which a judgment has been entered at least three (3) years prior to the date upon which they are electronically stored; and

(b) Cases in circuit, criminal or civil court which have been dismissed or in which a judgment has been entered at least five (5) years prior to the date upon which they are electronically stored.

(3) Nothing in this section shall serve as authority to destroy any docket book, minute book, issue docket, subpoena docket, witness docket book, execution docket book, voter registration book, marriage record book, trial order, abstract of judgment, judgment roll, criminal file where an indictment was returned and the defendant convicted if the file is not at least twenty (20) years old, habeas corpus docket, preliminary hearing docket or Court of Appeals or Supreme Court appeals docket.