Assembly bill 152 was presented as a way to prevent government staff from spending excessive time retrieving records that agencies are already permitted to discard according to Nevada’s official retention schedules.
Sponsor of the bill Assemblymember Ken Gray argued this would reduce burdens on local governments and stop abusive records requests from what he called, “vexatious requesters.”
But during Tuesday’s committee hearing lawmakers shared concerns the bill could weaken Nevada’s public records law. Assemblymember Max Carter questioned the bill’s integrity.
“I don’t understand this segregating ’cause it does stink to high heaven of hiding stuff and diluting the sunshine laws that we have in this state,” Carter said.
Nevada Revised Statutes sets the time frame before a public record such as emails and text messages can be deleted.
The bill does not change retention periods but allows government agencies to deny the request if eligible for disposal.
Nevada law does not set a general timeframe for all public records. Instead, different types of records have different retention periods, which are outlined in official state and local schedules. Commonly requested records for electronic communications have varying retention periods:
Emails:
- Routine, non-essential emails: 30 to 90 days
- Emails related to policy decisions or government business: 2 to 7 years (depending on agency and content)
- Permanently significant emails (legal matters, historical records): Permanent retention
- Text Messages:
- Routine messages: 30 days to 1 year
- Messages related to government operations: Up to 7 years
- Messages related to legal disputes or investigations: Held indefinitely until resolved
