2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 132-3. Destruction of records regulated.

§ 132‑3.  Destruction of records regulated.

(a)       Prohibition. – No public official may destroy, sell, loan, or otherwise dispose of any public record, except in accordance with G.S. 121‑5 and G.S. 130A‑99, without the consent of the Department of Cultural Resources. Whoever unlawfully removes a public record from the office where it is usually kept, or alters, defaces, mutilates or destroys it shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and upon conviction only fined not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).

(b)       Revenue Records. – Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section and G.S. 121‑5, when a record of the Department of Revenue has been copied in any manner, the original record may be destroyed upon the order of the Secretary of Revenue. If a record of the Department of Revenue has not been copied, the original record shall be preserved for at least three years. After three years the original record may be destroyed upon the order of the Secretary of Revenue.

(c)       Employment Security Commission Records. – Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section and G.S. 121‑5, when a record of the Employment Security Commission has been copied in any manner, the original record may be destroyed upon the order of the Chairman of the Employment Security Commission. If a record of the Commission has not been copied, the original record shall be preserved for at least three years. After three years the original record may be destroyed upon the order of the Chairman of the Employment Security Commission. (1935, c. 265, s. 3; 1943, c. 237; 1953, c. 675, s. 17; 1957, c. 330, s. 2; 1973, c. 476, s. 48; 1993, c. 485, s. 39; c. 539, s. 966; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1997‑309, s. 12; 2001‑115, s. 2.)