How long do we keep APRA request files in Indiana? There is no dedicated series.
Indiana's county and local retention schedules contain no record series for public records request files. That absence is the answer, and it points somewhere specific: the request correspondence rides GEN 10-04, General Files, three years, and the fee receipts ride GEN 10-10, six years plus the audit condition.
- Dedicated APRA series
- None. No series for public records request files appears on any current Indiana county or local retention schedule. We checked every series on all 16 schedules, 302 live plus 28 discontinued.
- Request and responses
- GEN 10-04, General Files (County/Local General schedule): DESTROY after three (3) years. The series description includes staff responses to routine public inquiries.
- Copy-fee receipts
- GEN 10-10, Basic Accounting Records - Revenue: DESTROY after six (6) years and after receipt of State Board of Accounts Audit Report and satisfaction of unsettled charges.
- Disputed or litigated requests
- On hold. Do not destroy anything about a request that is disputed, appealed to the Public Access Counselor, or in litigation (IC 5-14-3-7(a) plus IARA guidance).
There is no APRA request series. We checked.
Search Indiana’s retention schedules for the rule on public records request files and you will not find it, because it does not exist. The county and local schedules approved by the Oversight Committee on Public Records contain no record series for APRA request files. Not on the County/Local General schedule, not on any of the 15 office and function schedules. We checked every series on every current schedule, all 16 of them, 302 live series plus the 28 discontinued ones still in the state index, and the closest anything comes is a handful of law-enforcement series for things like copies of requested police reports. Nothing covers the ordinary APRA request file a clerk, auditor, or records custodian actually builds.
That absence is unusual. Michigan, by contrast, has a dedicated FOIA request series with a one-year rule, which we cover in the Michigan version of this question. Indiana never created the equivalent. So the answer to “how long do we keep APRA request files?” is not a special rule. It is the schedules’ own fallback logic.
What applies instead: General Files, three years
The schedules come with a lookup rule: check your office-specific schedule first, then the County/Local General (GEN) schedule that applies to every local unit. Since no office schedule carries a request-file series, the request letter, your acknowledgment, and your response land in the catch-all: GEN 10-04, GENERAL FILES. Its retention, quoted as printed: “DESTROY after three (3) years.” This is not a stretch. The series description expressly includes “staff responses to routine public inquiries” along with general office correspondence and electronic communications, which is exactly what an APRA request and its response are.
One part of the file lives longer. If you collected copying fees, those receipts are revenue records under GEN 10-10, Basic Accounting Records - Revenue, which reads: “DESTROY after six (6) years and after receipt of State Board of Accounts Audit Report and satisfaction of unsettled charges.” Note the AND. Six years alone is not enough; the SBOA audit covering those records must also be in, and any unsettled charges resolved.
The schedules do not see a file. They see pieces.
Here is the careful part. Because Indiana never defined “APRA request file” as a unit, the schedules do not treat it as one. Your request log, the incoming request, the response letters, and the fee receipts may each carry their own series and their own clock. The practical translation for an office that wants one defensible habit: keep the request file at least three years under GEN 10-04, keep the fee records six years plus the audit condition under GEN 10-10, and never destroy anything about a request that is disputed, appealed to the Public Access Counselor, or in litigation. That last hold is not optional caution. APRA itself directs every public agency to protect public records “from loss, alteration, mutilation, or destruction” (IC 5-14-3-7(a)), and IARA’s guidance is not to destroy records involved in an audit, litigation, investigation, or pending request.
Why the file matters even without a rule that names it
A requester who believes they were wrongly denied has 30 days from the denial to file a formal complaint with the Public Access Counselor (IC 5-14-5-7), and APRA’s attorney-fee and civil-penalty provisions mean a dispute can carry real cost, including penalties assessable against individuals. When that complaint arrives, the request file is your defense record: what was asked, when it arrived, what you sent, and when. The enforcement mechanics are covered in our guide to Indiana APRA deadlines; the retention lesson is simply that a three-year minimum comfortably outlasts the complaint window, if you actually kept the file.
Dekree runs this workflow for Michigan local governments today: every request, response, and fee record kept in one file with its retention tracked. We are bringing the platform to Indiana next. If you want it in your office, email contact@dekree.ai with the subject line Indiana and we will add your office to the Indiana rollout list.
When three years are up: destroy, then file the form
Disposal of scheduled records in Indiana is destroy first, report after. Once a record series has met its retention and nothing about it is under a hold, you destroy it and then file State Form 44905, the Notice of Destruction, with your County Commission of Public Records, with a copy to IARA. No advance permission is needed for records destroyed under an approved schedule; destroying records outside the schedules is another matter entirely, and Indiana classifies unauthorized destruction as a Level 6 felony (IC 5-15-6-8). The full disposal workflow, holds included, is in our guide to Indiana’s retention schedule system. A routine annual pass over closed, undisputed request files older than three years, documented on SF 44905, is what a disciplined records program looks like from the outside.
As always: quote the schedules, follow the schedules, and confirm disposal practices with your agency attorney before the shredder runs.
Common questions
Is there an Indiana retention rule specifically for APRA request files?
No. We checked every record series on every current Indiana county and local retention schedule, all 16 schedules approved by the Oversight Committee on Public Records, 302 live series plus 28 discontinued ones still in the state index, and none of them is a series for public records request files. The request and the agency response fall under the catch-all series GEN 10-04, General Files, on the County/Local General schedule, whose retention reads: DESTROY after three (3) years. Its description expressly covers staff responses to routine public inquiries.
How long do we keep the copy-fee receipts from a records request?
Longer than the rest of the file. Money collected for copies is revenue, and revenue records fall under GEN 10-10, Basic Accounting Records - Revenue, which reads: DESTROY after six (6) years and after receipt of State Board of Accounts Audit Report and satisfaction of unsettled charges. Both conditions must be met, so six years is a floor, not a promise.
Can we destroy a request file if the request was denied and the requester complained?
No. A request that is disputed, appealed to the Public Access Counselor, or in litigation is on hold regardless of any retention period. APRA itself requires agencies to protect public records from loss, alteration, mutilation, or destruction (IC 5-14-3-7(a)), and IARA guidance says not to destroy records involved in an audit, litigation, investigation, or pending request. The retention clocks apply to routine, closed, undisputed files.
How does this compare to Michigan?
Michigan names the file. Its statewide retention schedules carry a dedicated FOIA request series (General Schedule #35, item 35.107) with a one-year rule that starts when the response is sent or the request is denied. Indiana never created the equivalent series, so the request file follows the general three-year rule of GEN 10-04 instead. An office that handles both states is running two different clocks on the same kind of file.
This article is educational information for Indiana public agencies, current as of the publication date. It is not legal advice, and statutes and court decisions change. Confirm specifics with your agency attorney. Statute text: iga.in.gov.