The administrator is the official custodian and trustee for the state of all public records and archives of whatever kind which are transferred to him from any public office of the state or from any other source. He shall have overall administrative responsibility for carrying out the purposes of the Public Records Act, and may employ necessary personnel, purchase equipment and provide facilities as may be required in the execution of the powers conferred and duties imposed upon him. He shall keep the commission advised throughout the year of operations conducted and future operations projected, and shall report annually to the commission which records have been destroyed, transferred or otherwise processed during the year. The administrator shall establish a records management program for the application of efficient and economical management methods to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation and disposal of official records. It shall be the duty of the administrator, in cooperation with and with the approval of the general services department, to establish standards, procedures and techniques for effective management of public records, to make continuing surveys of paperwork operations, and to recommend improvements in current records management practices including the use of space, equipment and supplies employed in creating, maintaining and servicing records. It shall be the duty of the head of each state agency to cooperate with the administrator in conducting surveys and to establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the agency's records. The administrator shall establish records disposal schedules for the orderly retirement of records and adopt regulations necessary for the carrying out of the Public Records Act. Records disposal schedules shall be filed with the librarian of the supreme court library, and shall not become effective until thirty days after the date of filing. Records so scheduled may be transferred to the records center at regular intervals, in accordance with the regulations of the administrator.

History: 1953 Comp., § 71-6-6, enacted by Laws 1959, ch. 245, § 6; 1965, ch. 81, § 1; 1983, ch. 301, § 33.

Adoption of regulations by administrator. — The administrator may adopt regulations which will guide state officers in determining which records are "public records" and providing for separate disposal standards and retention periods for nonpublic record correspondence. The disposition of those records found to be "public records" within the meaning of the statutory definition must be controlled by the applicable portions of the Public Records Act, 14-3-1 NMSA 1978 et seq. 1960 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 60-72.

Administrator has authority to ensure compliance by county officials with the applicable provisions of 14-3-15 NMSA 1978. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-26.