# Medical record retention laws by state, read from the primary text

> How long medical records must be kept in each state, quoted from the statute or administrative code with its citation, plus the federal rules that sit on top.

Canonical page: https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/

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[Reference](https://medrecords.ai/reference/) › Medical record retention

## Medical record retention laws by state

By [Ahmed Jemaa](https://medrecords.ai/authors/ahmed-jemaa/) · Reviewed 2026-09-09

How long a medical record must be kept is set by state law, and it varies by who held the record. Hospitals sit under a health department licensure rule, physician practices under a separate medical board rule, and Medicare participating providers under a federal floor beneath both. The periods rarely match, even inside one state.

### What the primary sources actually say

One row per jurisdiction we have read from the primary text. A state appears here only once someone has opened the statute or administrative code and quoted the operative sentence on its page. States still being worked through are absent rather than guessed at.

| State | Hospitals | Physician practices |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Alabama | At least 5 years in original or legally reproduced form | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Alaska | 7 years following the discharge of the patient | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Arizona | At least 6 years after the last date the adult patient received services | At least 6 years after the last date the adult patient received services |
| Arkansas | 10 years after the last discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| California | 7 years following discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Colorado | 10 years after the most recent patient care usage of the medical record | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Connecticut | A minimum of 10 years after discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Florida | Not confirmed against primary text | At least 5 years from the last patient contact |
| Georgia | At least until the fifth anniversary of the patient's discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Hawaii | A minimum of 7 years after the last data entry | A minimum of 7 years after the last data entry |
| Illinois | Not less than 10 years, extended to 12 years if an attorney gives written notice of pending litigation | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Indiana | At least 7 years for the original health records or microfilms of the records | At least 7 years for the original health records or microfilms of the records |
| Iowa | No fixed number of years; records are stored in accordance with the statute of limitations in Iowa Code chapter 614 | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Kansas | 10 years after the date of last discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Kentucky | At least 6 years from date of discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Louisiana | A minimum of 10 years from the date a patient is discharged | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Maine | 7 years | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Maryland | 7 years after the record or report is made | 7 years after the record or report is made |
| Massachusetts | 20 years after discharge or final treatment, before the record may be destroyed | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Michigan | A minimum of 7 years from the date of service | A minimum of 7 years from the date of service |
| Minnesota | Permanent for portions comprising the individual permanent medical record; other portions may be destroyed after 7 years | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Mississippi | A minimum of 10 years from the date a patient is discharged | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Missouri | Not confirmed against primary text | A minimum of 7 years from the date the last professional service was provided |
| Montana | Not less than 10 years following the date of discharge or death | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Nevada | At least 5 years, but only once the patient has attained age 23 | At least 5 years, but only once the patient has attained age 23 |
| New Hampshire | 7 years after discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| New Jersey | 10 years following the most recent discharge, or until the patient reaches age 23, whichever is longer | Not confirmed against primary text |
| New Mexico | 10 years following the last treatment date | Not confirmed against primary text |
| New York | At least 6 years from discharge, or at least 6 years after death | Not confirmed against primary text |
| North Carolina | 11 years following the discharge of an adult patient | Not confirmed against primary text |
| North Dakota | At least the tenth anniversary of the date the patient was last treated | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Ohio | At least 6 years from the date of discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Oklahoma | A minimum of 5 years beyond the date the patient was last seen, or 3 years beyond the date of death | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Oregon | At least 10 years after discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Pennsylvania | 7 years following discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Rhode Island | A minimum of 5 years following discharge | Not confirmed against primary text |
| South Carolina | Not confirmed against primary text | At least 10 years for adult patients |
| South Dakota | A minimum of 10 years from the actual visit date of service or patient care | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Tennessee | 10 years following discharge, or death during the period of treatment | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Texas | Not confirmed against primary text | 7 years from the date of last treatment |
| Utah | At least 7 years | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Vermont | A minimum of 10 years | Not confirmed against primary text |
| Virginia | Not confirmed against primary text | A minimum of 6 years following the last patient encounter |
| Washington | A minimum of 26 years from the date the record was created | Not confirmed against primary text |
| West Virginia | A minimum of 5 years in original or legally reproduced form | Not confirmed against primary text |

[](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/alabama/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/alaska/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/arizona/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/arkansas/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/california/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/colorado/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/connecticut/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/florida/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/georgia/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/hawaii/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/illinois/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/indiana/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/iowa/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/kansas/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/kentucky/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/louisiana/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/maine/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/maryland/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/massachusetts/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/michigan/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/minnesota/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/mississippi/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/missouri/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/montana/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/nevada/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/new-hampshire/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/new-jersey/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/new-mexico/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/new-york/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/north-carolina/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/north-dakota/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/ohio/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/oklahoma/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/oregon/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/pennsylvania/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/rhode-island/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/south-carolina/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/south-dakota/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/tennessee/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/texas/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/utah/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/vermont/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/virginia/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/washington/) [](https://medrecords.ai/reference/medical-record-retention/west-virginia/)

### Why this table is shorter than the ones that outrank it

Every widely circulated version of this chart gives you 50 rows. We checked a sample of those rows against the primary text and found errors serious enough that we will not republish any of them.

- **New York.** A chart ranking on the first page of Google gives a ten year hospital period. The rule, 10 NYCRR section 405.10(a)(4), says at least six years from discharge. The same page then contradicts its own figure one sentence later.
- **Texas.** Several charts cite 22 Texas Administrative Code section 165.1. That rule number no longer exists. Medical record retention moved to section 163.2, adopted in its current form in January 2025.
- **Texas, again.** One vendor page publishes a six year physician period. The rule says seven.

These are not edge cases, they are the largest legal markets in the country. The charts appear to be copied from each other and from a compilation whose own footer dates it to July 2022. So this page grows a row at a time, from the source, and says plainly which rows are not done yet.

### Which rule applies to the record you want

The period turns on who held the record, not on what the record says. A hospital chart, a private practice chart and a nursing facility chart can sit under three different rules in the same state, with three different clocks.

- **Hospital or licensed facility:** the state hospital licensure regulation, usually written by the health department.
- **Physician practice:** the medical board rule, which is a separate chapter and often a different number of years.
- **Anything billed to Medicare:** the federal condition of participation applies as a floor underneath the state rule.
- Where a state publishes no rule for a setting, providers generally default to the longest applicable period they can identify. That is a practice, not a legal requirement, so do not assume the record exists.

### The federal layer sits on top of this

State law sets how long the record itself must be kept. Federal rules add separate duties that people routinely confuse with it, and none of them replace the state period. The longer duty always governs.

| Rule | Period | Citation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Medicare-participating hospitals | At least 5 years | 42 CFR 482.24(b)(1) |
| HIPAA compliance documentation (not the medical record) | 6 years from creation or last effective date, whichever is later | 45 CFR 164.530(j)(2) |

The one that causes the most trouble is the HIPAA six year rule. It applies to a covered entity's own compliance documentation, such as policies, notices and signed authorizations. It does not set a retention period for the medical record.

### Retention is not the same as your filing deadline

A retention period tells a provider how long to keep a chart. It does not tell you how long you have to bring a claim, and the two rarely match. A state can require seven years of retention while its limitation period for a minor runs years longer, which is how records get destroyed on schedule while a claim is still live. If a matter is reasonably anticipated, a litigation hold overrides the routine destruction schedule regardless of what the retention rule permits.

Sourcing and review
Every period on this page was read from the primary statute or administrative code text and is quoted above with its citation. Reviewed 2026-09-09. Rules change and courts read them differently, so confirm against the current text before you rely on it. This is reference information, not legal advice.

Once you have the file
Medrecords AI does not retrieve records from providers. It reads the file you already hold and drafts a cited chronology a qualified reviewer signs off on.

[Test a file →](https://medrecords.ai/test-a-file/?src=ref-retention-national)