Text messages and chat apps as agency records

Reference article · 5 min read

Most state public records laws define a record by what it contains and what it does, not by the software that carried it. A message about agency business is generally a record whether it arrives as a memo, an email, a Microsoft Teams chat, a Slack direct message, or a text between two staff phones. Agencies applied that idea to email over many years. Chat and text arrived faster, pulling much of daily coordination, and some real decision making, into places where nobody configured retention and where the default is often quiet deletion.

The exposure runs both ways. An agency that cannot produce responsive messages for a records request or a litigation hold has a problem it cannot repair afterward, and an agency that keeps everything forever pays storage and review costs no schedule asks for. The work is to bring chat and text under the same retention schedule, the same holds, and the same search the agency already applies to email.

Why a chat message counts as a record

Content governs, not channel. Public records acts generally reach recorded information made or received in connection with public business. A Teams thread where a division settles on a course of action is a record just as the memo it replaced was.
Retention follows function. State schedules classify by what a record documents, not by format, so a message about a permit decision follows the permit series. Transitory categories exist for messages of fleeting value, but they do not cover deliberation, direction, or approvals.
Holds override schedules. When litigation, an investigation, or an anticipated claim triggers a hold, routine disposition stops for the affected custodians and channels, chat included.
Attachments live elsewhere. Files shared in a chat usually sit in a separate storage service under separate policy, so a rule covering message text may not reach them.

What platform retention settings actually do

Both major collaboration platforms can retain or delete messages on a schedule, but the controls are narrower than people assume and defaults rarely match a state schedule.

Microsoft Teams. Retention is configured through Microsoft Purview at the tenant level, with policies that either delete after a period or retain for one. Chats, standard channel messages, private channels, and shared channels are separate policy locations, so confirm which ones your policies cover.
Slack. Workspace settings control how long channel messages and direct messages are kept, and administrators can allow or forbid per-channel overrides by members. Export and discovery access depends on plan tier. Turn member overrides off if your schedule requires consistency.
Export is not archiving. A manual export is a snapshot. An archive captures continuously, preserves edits and deletions, and supports hold and search by custodian and date.
Third-party archiving. These tools connect through the platform's compliance or discovery interfaces and write into a repository the agency controls. That separation matters when a platform contract ends or when one search has to span several systems.

Text, personal devices, and personal accounts

Carriers generally do not keep message content in a form an agency can retrieve later, and billing records are no substitute. Capture has to happen at or near the device, or the business has to move to a platform that logs centrally.

Agency-issued devices. Enroll them in mobile device management and pair them with a text archiving service that covers group and picture messages, not only one to one text.
Managed platforms for constituent texting. Notification, 311, and case management systems that text on the agency's behalf keep their own logs, which beats archiving handsets one by one.
Personal numbers and accounts. Many states have concluded that records of public business are public records wherever they sit, including personal email and personal phones. Policy should discourage business there and require staff who do it anyway to forward the message into agency email promptly.
Disappearing messages. Ephemeral settings and timed-deletion apps conflict directly with retention duties. Disable them at the tenant level where the platform allows it, and address unmanaged apps in policy.

Rules staff can follow

If a message records a decision, direction, commitment, or advice, move it into the system of record: the case file or agency email.
Use chat for coordination. Put deliberation and approvals where they are retained and searchable.
Do not turn on disappearing messages, and do not ask a colleague to delete one.
If business happens on a personal number, forward it to agency email the same day.
When a hold notice arrives, stop deleting anything covered by it, chat and texts included, until counsel releases the hold.

What to ask vendors and require in a contract

Coverage. Which message types, channel types, and attachments are captured, and what is out of scope.
Fidelity. Whether the archive preserves edits, deletions, threading, participants, and timestamps, and logs who deleted what.
Hold and search. Custodian and date search, and legal hold that survives the platform's own retention.
Export and exit. Full export in an open format on demand and at termination, at a defined price, with the agency named as owner of the data.
Proof of completeness. Reconciliation reports and alerts when capture fails, not a general assurance.

How to start

Inventory the channels actually in use, including those outside IT's approved list, and map each to an item on the state schedule. Fix the defaults you can fix now: turn off member overrides, disable ephemeral settings, and set policy periods to match the schedule rather than the platform's stock options. Then take one realistic records request end to end through search, review, redaction, and production. Requirements vary by state and change over time, so confirm specifics with your state archives and your counsel.

HQT works with state and local agencies on records capture, archiving integrations, and the systems that hold public records.

Frequently asked questions

Are staff text messages public records?

In most states, a text about agency business is a public record on the same terms as an email, because records laws define a record by content and function rather than by the tool used. The medium does not change the analysis, and neither does whether the phone belongs to the agency or the employee. Retention length depends on what the message documents under your state schedule. Confirm the specifics with your state archives or your counsel, since definitions and exemptions vary.

How long do we have to keep Teams and Slack messages?

There is usually no single retention period for chat. Each message follows the schedule item that matches what it documents, so a thread about a permit decision is kept as long as permit records and a message setting a meeting time is generally transitory. Set platform retention policies to align with those schedule items rather than accepting the platform's default or a single blanket period.

What if an employee conducts agency business on a personal cell phone?

Many states have concluded that records of public business remain public records even when they sit in a personal account or on a personal device. The practical answer is a written policy that discourages or prohibits the practice and requires staff who do it anyway to forward the message into agency email or the relevant case file promptly. Without that step, the agency has no reliable way to search or produce the message later.

Do platform retention settings replace a third-party archiving tool?

Native settings control how long messages live in the platform, but they are not built to serve records requests on their own. An archive captures messages continuously, preserves edits and deletions, holds content beyond the platform's own retention, and supports search by custodian and date. Whether you need one depends on request volume, litigation exposure, and how many separate systems staff use.

Can staff use disappearing messages for sensitive discussions?

Ephemeral and timed-deletion messaging conflicts directly with records retention and legal hold duties, and sensitivity is not an exemption from retention. Exemptions apply at the point of disclosure, through redaction and withholding, not by destroying the record. Disable these features at the tenant level where the platform allows it and address unmanaged apps in policy and training.