State and local text archiving laws in the United States

Alabama

According to the Alabama Employee Handbook, “all electronic communications are expected to comply with relevant Federal and State laws as well as State policies and standards formulated to ensure the integrity and availability of e-mail system resources.” Text messages that contain official government-related information will be considered public records.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Alabama Public Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Alaska

The Alaska Public Records Law does not explicitly identify or address text messages, but according to the Alaska State Legislature’s House Bill No. 195, electronic transmission is considered a public record under AS 40.25. Furthermore, an “’electronic transmission’” means any form of communication, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that can be retained, retrieved, and reviewed by a recipient of the communication and that can be reproduced in paper form through an automated process.”

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Alaska Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Arizona

According to the Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) § 39-121, “Public records and other matters in the custody of any officer shall be open to inspection by any person at all times during office hours.” The Statute also defines records broadly as “all books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including prints or copies of such items produced or reproduced on film or electronic media.” Electronic media also includes voice mail and text messages, among others.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Arizona Public Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Arkansas

The Freedom of Information Act defines public records as any writing, sound, or video that reflects the performance of an official function. There is, however, no legal case regarding text messages specifically, but the Attorney General has suggested that successive electronic discussions could be considered meetings under the FOIA.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

California

The California Supreme Court ruled that electronic communications, including e-mails and text messages, are not exempted from disclosure under the California Public Records Act as long as the message’s content can be considered as a public record. Public records are also defined under the Public Records Act to include “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.”

Read more about text archiving regulations and the California Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Colorado

The Colorado Open Records Act recognizes both e-mails and text messages as public records but is vague on its retention expectations.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Colorado Open Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Connecticut

The Connecticut Freedom of Information Act considers text messages as public records, requiring them, in turn, to be accessible and available to anyone requesting access to it promptly during regular business hours.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

District of Columbia

The District of Columbia’s Open Meetings Act does not address meetings via text message specifically but covers all meetings held through any means of communication. The catch-all category of “any means of communication” likely includes text messages.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Delaware

Public records are defined as “information of any kind, owned, made, used, retained, received, produced, composed, drafted or otherwise compiled or collected, by any public body, relating in any way to public business, or in any way of public interest, or in any way related to public purposes.” Electronic records containing the information stated above are also considered as public records, but text messages are not explicitly mentioned in the Delaware Freedom of Information Act.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Delaware Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Florida

Florida’s Sunshine Law considers text messages as public records after the Attorney General’s Office opined that the “same rules that apply to e-mail should be considered for electronic communications including Blackberry PINS, SMS communications (text messaging), MMS communications (multimedia content), and instant messaging conducted by government agencies.”

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Florida Sunshine Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Georgia

According to the Georgia Open Records Act, e-mail, text messages, or electronic messages of other formats can be requested access to as they are considered public records. Text messages are not treated any differently than written documents and are subject to the Open Records Act’s disclosure requirements.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Georgia Open Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Hawaii

The Hawaii Uniform Information Practices Act does not make any distinction between the treatment of electronic messages and paper documents in terms of storage and retention.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Hawaii Uniform Information Practices Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Idaho

The Idaho Public Records Law Manual considers both E-mail and text messages as public records and is subject to the same laws as any other public record, including in terms of retention and back-up.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Idaho Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Illinois

According to the Illinois Open Government Guide, text messages are treated as public records due to their qualifications as “meetings” when the text served as a contemporaneous interactive communication.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Indiana

According to the Indiana Code § 5-14-3-2(o), the term “public record” includes text messages in the list since it’s definition is “any writing, paper, report, study, map, photograph, book, card, tape recording, or other material that is created, received, retained, maintained, or filed by or with a public agency and which is generated on paper, paper substitutes, photographic media, chemically-based media, magnetic or machine-readable media, electronically stored data, or any other material, regardless of form or characteristics.” As such, text messages are subject to the Access to Public Records Act.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Iowa

The Iowa Open Records Law does not address text messages as public records specifically. However, the Iowa Pubic Information Board stated that the content of the document determines whether it is a public record or not, and text messages can be classified as one depending on the content.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Iowa Open Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Kansas

Kansas Open Records Act defines “public records” as “any recorded information, regardless of… location, which is made, maintained or kept by or is in the possession of (A) Any public agency; or (B) any officer or employee of a public agency under the officer’s or employee’s official duties and which is related to the functions, activities, programs or operations of any public agency.” Any text messages that fall under this definition will be classified as public records.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Kansas Open Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Kentucky

The Open Records Act and associated public access and retention requirements apply equally to both electronic and paper records. There have been discussions to exempt messages from private electronic devices paid for with private funds from public records. Still, the Office of Attorney General Andy Beshear affirmed that “the nature and purpose of the document, not the place where it is kept, that determines its status as a public record.”

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Kentucky Open Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Louisiana

Text messages are treated like other paper records under the Open Records Act and are subject to the Act’s disclosure requirements. Text messages between a public body’s members that are drafted when in a meeting are instantly classified as public records.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Louisiana Public Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Maine

The Maine Open Government Guide states that text messages would be treated like other documents, so long as the message was received or prepared for use regarding the transaction of public or governmental business.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Maine Freedom of Access Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Maryland

The Maryland Public Information Act included text messages in its list of public records that agencies must be able to retain and disclose. Several cabinet-level agencies said that they lacked the necessary policies to keep such kinds of public records.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Maryland Public Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Public Records Act states that electronic records, including e-mail communications and text messages, are treated the same as public paper records for disclosure purposes. Public records are defined as “all books, papers, maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements, statistical tabulations, or other documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics,” and text messages are not exempt from the Act.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Massachusetts Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Michigan

The Michigan Freedom of Information Act does not explicitly mention text messages as public records, but maintains the definition of the latter as “prepared, owned, used in the possession of or retained by a public body in the performance of an official function.” As such, an FOIA case that required a third-party service provider to produce the text messages that led to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s resignation resulted in the successful retrieval of the said text messages.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Minnesota

The Minnesota Data Practices Act states that text messages and other data formats are considered public records as long as they contain government data.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Minnesota Data Practices Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Mississippi

The Mississippi Ethics Commission stated that the text messages of public officials regarding government business are considered public records even if the Mississippi Public Records Act does not explicitly address them.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Mississippi Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Missouri

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said that text messages written by public officials regarding public business are open records under state law. The Missouri Sunshine Law also defines public records as “any record, whether written or electronically stored, retained by or of any public governmental body.”

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Missouri Sunshine Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Montana

According to Montana’s public records law updated in 2015, the records that must be retained in state archives are not limited by any medium, which means that text messages are considered public records depending on their content.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Montana Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Nebraska

Assistant Attorney General Leslie Donley opined that government-related e-mails sent through private e-mail addresses are still public records and that text messages are not so different. As long as the content is government-related, it is still public considered a public record.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Nebraska Public Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Nevada

The Nevada Public Records Act stated that both public books and public records must be open at all times during office hours. The Act also mentioned that a document does not become private because it is maintained on a private property, which means that electronic messages like e-mails and text messages are still public records as long as they are concerned about “the provision of public service.”

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Nevada Open Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

New Hampshire

According to an updated Memorandum on New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know Law, among the electronic government records that are required to be disclosed under the Law are text messages, instant messages, e-mails, voice mail, and others as long as they contain public matters.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the New Hampshire Right to Know Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

New Jersey

The New Jersey Open Public Records Act supports that text messages are indeed government records or public records that are subject to disclosure under the Act.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the New Jersey Open Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

New Mexico

The New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act considered text messages as a public record. The Act also provides two rights, with one being the right to inspect public records and the other to obtain copies of them.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

New York

New York’s Freedom of Information Law does not specifically address text messages as a public record but maintains that public record is dependent on content. A government-related text message will be regarded as a public record.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the New York Freedom of Information Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

North Carolina

According to the North Carolina Open Government Guide, text messages are no different from other forms of records as long as they are “of and concerning” public business.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the North Carolina Public Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

North Dakota

The North Dakota Open Records Law considered text messages as public records as long as they are received or prepared in connection with public business, or they contain information relating to it.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the North Dakota Open Records Statute.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Ohio

The public records policy of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office stated that electronic records are to be treated the same way as other formats of records, which means that text messages are considered public if their content is official business.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Ohio Open Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp chats with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Oklahoma

In a recent opinion, the Oklahoma Attorney General specifically included text messages in the definition of a record in the Open Records Act.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Oregon

Text messages are considered public records under the as long as they contain information that can be classified as such. Public records are defined under the ORS 192.410 as including “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business, including but not limited to court records, mortgages, and deed records, prepared, owned, used or retained by a public body regardless of physical form or characteristics.”

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Oregon Public Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Right to Know Law states that any message, including text messages and e-mails, related to government business, are considered public records.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Rhode Island

Under the Access to Public Records Act, a public record is defined as including all materials generated by public entities relating to official government business, including electronic records. However, there is no statutory or case law addressing text messages specifically.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

South Carolina

South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act states that a text message prepared, owned, used, and retained by a public body is considered a public record.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

South Dakota

Text messages are treated the same as e-mails under the South Dakota Open Records Law and, as such, are subject to the same disclosure requirements. Public records are defined to include all manner of records and documents that belong to the state, regardless of physical form.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the South Dakota Sunshine Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Tennessee

The Tennessee Open Records Act includes text messages, among other electronic messages, among the list of public records that are subjected to the disclosure requirements under the Act. Public records are defined as documents, papers, electronic data, and other material regardless of physical form or characteristics as long as they are connected with the transaction of official government business.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Tennessee Open Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Texas

In May 2019, the Texas Legislature passed bills that are aimed at updating the state’s Public Information fail-safe and the Open Meetings Act to the changing technological landscape in the government sector.

Three major bills – SB 943, SB 944, and SB 1640 – were all designed in an effort to restore public’s trust to state’s Open Records Laws which was severely weakened by adverse Texas court decisions that could have assisted public agencies and private entities in keeping critical public information from being disclosed.

With these bills, Texans will be able to access more information regarding the dealings of every function of their government – from law enforcement to education and healthcare – which will result in more robust open government laws in the state.

Read more about new updates to Texas Open Record Laws.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Utah

The Utah Code Ann. § 63G-2-103 defines records as including books, letters, documents, recordings, electronic data, text messages, and other documentary material regardless of physical form or characteristics. Under the Government Records Access and Management Act, text messages regarding a public matter are public unless otherwise specifically exempted.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Vermont

The Vermont Public Records Act defines public records broadly. It includes any written or recorded information regardless of characteristics or physical form which is produced or acquired during public agency business. A text message that fits in with the definition from the Act is considered a public record.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Vermont Open Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Virginia

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act defines public records as all manner of writings and recordings set down by handwriting, typewriting, printing, electronic recording, or other means. Text messages that fall within the Act’s definition are considered public records and are subject to the Freedom of Information Act’s disclosure requirements.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Washington

The Washington Public Records Act would cover text messages as long as they contain information regarding official government business, even if the message were sent through a personal cell phone.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Washington Public Records Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

West Virginia

Text messages are still covered under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act even though the West Virginia Open Government Guide has stated that there haven’t been any been court decisions to regard text messages as public records.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Open Records Law extends the definition of public records to include records on government business regardless of where they are stored. Text messages that contain official government-related information are public records.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Wisconsin Open Records Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

Wyoming

The Wyoming Sunshine Law provides a broad definition of public records to include any writer communication or information on paper, electronic, or other forms that are received by a governmental entity regarding either the state’s or the agency’s public business. As long as text messages contain information on government-related information, it is considered a public record.

Read more about text archiving regulations and the Wyoming Sunshine Law.

Read about how to capture and archive SMS text, MMS, Calls, and WhatsApp communications with the TeleMessage Mobile Archiving products.

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