Senate BillChaptered/SignedGovernment
SB 1236: State Records Management Act.
What SB 1236 does, verified August 13, 2026
The bill aims to revise the state records management act, which requires state agencies to manage records efficiently and transfer those with archival value to the state archives. The secretary of state will determine which records have archival value and enforce confidentiality requirements. The transferred records will be made available to authorized individuals or the public, as determined by applicable law.
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6ChapteredCurrent
Last action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 105, Statutes of 2026. (2026-07-02)Alert me
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| Jul. 16, 2026 | Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 105, Statutes of 2026. |
| Jul. 16, 2026 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Jul. 15, 2026 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11 a.m. |
| Jul. 02, 2026 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 70. Noes 0. Page 5985.) Ordered to the Senate. |
| Jul. 02, 2026 | In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
Latest bill textChaptered version, July 16, 2026 · 633 words
Senate Bill No. 1236
CHAPTER 105
An act to amend Section 12274 of the Government Code, relating to state government.
[ Approved by Governor July 16, 2026. Filed with Secretary of State July 16, 2026. ]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1236, Committee on Governmental Organization. State Records Management Act.
Existing law, the State Records Management Act, generally requires the head of a state agency to establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the records and information collection practices of the agency. The act requires the Secretary of State to determine, among other things, whether a record held by a state agency has archival value, as defined, and requires a record deemed to have archival value to be transferred to the State Archives. The act requires the Secretary of State to enforce all statutory requirements regarding the confidentiality of records transferred to the State Archives and to make the records available to authorized individuals or the public, as determined by applicable law.
This bill would revise and recast the duties of the head of a state agency and the Secretary of State to determine and transfer a record deemed to have archival value.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 12274 of the Government Code is amended to read:12274.
The head of a state agency shall do all of the following:(a) Establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the records and information collection practices of the agency. The program shall ensure that the information needed by the agency may be obtained with a minimum burden upon individuals and businesses, especially small business enterprises and others required to furnish the information. Unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining information shall be eliminated as rapidly as practical. Information collected by the agency shall, as far as is expedient, be collected and tabulated in a manner that maximizes the usefulness of the information to other state agencies and the public.
(b) Determine, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, records essential to the functioning of state government in the event of a major disaster.
(c) When requested by the Secretary of State, provide a written justification for storage or extension of scheduled retention of a record in the State Records Center for a period of 50 years or more. The Secretary of State shall review and approve any scheduled retention of a record in the State Records Center for a period of 50 years or more.
(d) (1) Shall transfer a record deemed by the Secretary of State to have archival value, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 12271, to the State Archives once it has reached the end of its administrative, legal, fiscal, or evidential value to the agency.
(2) Upon transfer of a record of archival value to the State Archives, the head of the state agency shall notify the Secretary of State if the record contains information that is not subject to public disclosure or is restricted from disclosure for a period of time pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1), the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code), or other applicable federal or state law.
(e) Comply with the rules, regulations, standards, and procedures issued by the Secretary of State.
(f) Appoint a representative from the agency to serve as the Records Management Coordinator and notify the Secretary of State’s California Records and Information Management Program within 30 days of the appointment.
(g) Notify the Secretary of State when records are stored with a third-party vendor or digitized.
Text of SB 1236 as chaptered, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions