Michigan just revised its Administrative Records schedule. Here is everything that changed.
The state revised General Schedule #35 (Administrative Records), the retention schedule that covers every Michigan public body. The headline: meeting recordings moved from a 1-day clock to 1 year after the meeting. A new series was added, several items were rewritten, and one long-standing schedule was formally superseded. Every change, quoted from the official document.
- What was revised
- DTMB General Schedule #35 (Administrative Records), the schedule that applies to every Michigan public body. Every item re-approved 8/18/2026
- The headline change
- Item 35.112, meeting audio and video recordings: from "minutes approved plus 1 day" to "meeting is held plus 1 year" (MCL 15.269a(2))
- New series
- Item 35.127, News Release Records: retain 10 years after the release is published
- Schedule superseded
- Item 35.125 (Transitory Records) now formally supersedes General Schedule #1
- Status in Dekree
- All 28 items live in the product and the free database, quoted from the 8/18/2026 edition
- Reported to the state
- Several rows in the published PDF are visually cut off mid-sentence; flagged to DTMB Records Management Services 8/31/2026, pending
Why this schedule matters more than most
General Schedule #35 is the closest thing Michigan has to a universal retention schedule. It covers administrative records for every public body, from townships to counties to school districts, and since its 2023 debut it has steadily absorbed ground from the older role-specific schedules; the March 2026 revision of General Schedule #24 moved 40 of that schedule’s 63 items here. When GS #35 changes, the rules underneath nearly everyone’s filing cabinets change with it.
On August 18, 2026 the state approved a revised edition. There was no press release; the new PDF simply replaced the old one on the state’s records management site. Here is what a close, line-by-line comparison of the two editions shows.
The headline: meeting recordings went from 1 day to 1 year
The old rule was one of the shortest clocks in the schedules: the recording of a public meeting could be destroyed one day after the minutes were approved. The revised rule runs a full year from the meeting itself:
DTMB General Schedule #35 (Administrative Records), item 35.112; approved 8/18/2026. Applies to all Michigan public bodies. The item cites MCL 15.269a(2).
The citation moved too, from MCL 15.269 (the minutes section of the Open Meetings Act) to MCL 15.269a(2), the newer OMA provision that requires recordings of certain state-level board meetings to be kept at least one year in a format reproducible for FOIA. The revised schedule applies that same period to local government recordings. One wrinkle to know: General Schedule #25 (Township Clerks, unrevised since 2008) still prints the old 1-day rule, so the two schedules currently disagree. The full analysis, including how to handle the conflict, is in our updated guide to meeting recording retention.
Everything else that changed
Working through the two editions item by item, the rest of the revision:
- 35.127 News Release Records is new. Official news releases are retained 10 years after publication, then destroyed. The schedule now has 28 items, up from 27.
- 35.125 Transitory Records was rewritten and now supersedes General Schedule #1. The old GS #1 (Non-Record Materials) is formally absorbed; the rewritten item defines transitory records by what they fail to document rather than by a list of examples, and the retention trigger changed from “activity is completed” to “no longer needed for reference purposes, or until the intended use is completed.”
- 35.119 Public Body Member Files now covers denied applications. The series adds applications and denial correspondence, and the 2-year clock can now start when an application is denied, not only when a member leaves the body.
- 35.123 was retitled Security and/or Surveillance Video Recordings (formerly Surveillance Camera Recordings) and expanded well beyond fixed cameras: the description now reaches recordings from devices on vehicles, buildings, people, drones, and more, and covers evidentiary recordings under MCL 780.312(2) that are not relevant to a formal complaint. The 30-day period is unchanged.
- 35.121 was retitled Contact List Records (formerly Rosters, Mailing Lists, and Contact Lists) and 35.126 became Visitor and Employee Arrival and Departure Records, now explicitly covering employee records and identification card scan data. Retention periods unchanged on both.
- 35.113 internal meeting records kept its 2-year period but the trigger wording changed from “meeting date” to “meeting is held,” matching the revised 35.112.
Everything else, including the permanent status of open-meeting minutes (35.116) and the 1-year FOIA request file rule (35.107), carries forward with a new approval date and no change in substance.
One thing we sent back to the state
Reading the new edition line by line surfaced a production defect in the published PDF itself: several table rows are visually cut off at the bottom of their cells. The descriptions of items 35.105, 35.111, 35.118, 35.120, and 35.124 end mid-sentence, and item 35.109’s retention column is missing its disposition line. It is the same class of defect as the truncated General Schedule #29 row we reported in July, which the state corrected within a day.
We reported these rows to DTMB Records Management Services on August 31, 2026, with page references and a screenshot. That report is pending; based on the July turnaround, we expect the published file to be corrected promptly, and the weekly watch will catch the fixed edition when it lands. In the meantime, Dekree preserves the printed text exactly as published, with each affected item flagged rather than quietly filled in. The retention periods themselves are legible for every item.
This is what the weekly schedule watch is for. The revision was caught days after the state published it, the two editions were reconciled item by item, and all 28 revised series went live in Dekree and in the free searchable database before most offices had heard the schedule changed. Records already assigned to a GS #35 series picked up the revised rules automatically, and the superseded edition stays in the source archive behind every item.
What to do in your office
If your body destroys meeting recordings on the old 1-day clock, update the practice now: hold recordings one year from the meeting date. If you publish news releases, they now carry a 10-year retention. And if your retention policies cite General Schedule #1 for non-records, note that it is formally superseded by item 35.125. As always, retention periods are minimums that authorize disposal, a pending FOIA request or litigation hold overrides the schedule, and your municipal attorney gets the final word.
Common questions
What changed in the August 2026 revision of General Schedule #35?
Every item now carries an approval date of 8/18/2026, and the schedule grew from 27 items to 28. The substantive changes: item 35.112 (meeting audio and video recordings) moved from "minutes approved plus 1 day" to "meeting is held plus 1 year"; item 35.127 (News Release Records, 10 years) is new; item 35.119 now also covers denied applications for public body membership; item 35.125 (Transitory Records) was rewritten and formally supersedes General Schedule #1; and items 35.121, 35.123, and 35.126 were retitled and expanded.
How long do Michigan public bodies keep meeting recordings now?
One year after the meeting is held, under the revised General Schedule #35 item 35.112, which cites MCL 15.269a(2). Before the August 18, 2026 revision, the schedule allowed disposal one day after the minutes were approved. Note that General Schedule #25 (Township Clerks, unrevised since 2008) still prints the old 1-day rule, so the safe practice is to follow the longer 1-year period and confirm with your municipal attorney.
Has Dekree’s retention database been updated for the revision?
Yes. All 28 items of the revised General Schedule #35 are live in the free searchable database and in the product, quoted as the 8/18/2026 edition prints them, with the superseded 6/6/2023 edition preserved in the source archive. The revision was caught by the weekly watch on the official DTMB schedule index and applied within days.
Is there anything wrong with the new PDF?
Several rows in the published file are visually cut off at the bottom of their table cells: the descriptions of items 35.105, 35.111, 35.118, 35.120, and 35.124 end mid-sentence, and item 35.109 is missing its disposition line. Dekree reported the defect to DTMB Records Management Services on August 31, 2026, with page references; the report is pending. The affected retention periods themselves are legible, and Dekree preserves the printed text exactly with each affected item flagged.
This article is educational information for Michigan public bodies, current as of the publication date. It is not legal advice, and statutes and court decisions change. Confirm specifics with your municipal attorney. Statute text: legislature.mi.gov.