Records Retention Schedule

Relief associations are governmental entities that receive and manage public money. Therefore, they must follow state guidelines that govern the retention of records.

A relief association has several options for the retention of its records. A relief association’s board of trustees may choose to adopt the General Records Retention Schedule for Volunteer Fire Relief Associations in its entirety and notify the Minnesota Historical Society of its adoption. Relief associations choosing this option may destroy certain types of records after they have been maintained for a specified length of time as detailed in the schedule.

Alternatively, a relief association may choose to modify the General Records Retention Schedule or to create its own schedule. Relief associations choosing these options must submit the proposed schedule to the State Records Disposition Panel for approval before the customized schedule can be used and any records destroyed.

If a relief association fails to choose one of these options, the association must permanently retain all of its records.

The general records retention schedule, instructions, and a form for use in notifying the Minnesota Historical Society that the schedule has been adopted can be found on the Minnesota Historical Society’s website.

Additional information about relief association records management can be found in a Statement of Position on this topic, posted on the OSA website. The Statement of Position describes different types of records that a relief association may maintain and identifies records that are public records.

Published last in the June 2021 Pension Newsletter