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Average time for Law Department to approve records disposal application (months)
Provide City agencies, non-federal courts and district attorneys with record storage, retrieval and record management services. — Dispose of all records according to their scheduled retention period.
The Law Department's average time to approve a records-disposal application nearly tripled in fiscal 2024, to 3.7 months, which DORIS attributes to a side effect of its own disposal-streamlining push: the volume of records DORIS sent for disposal jumped 350% that year, and processing that much larger caseload took the Law Department longer. The figure eased to 2.1 months in fiscal 2025, though DORIS's more recent reporting shows it climbing again as disposal volumes keep growing.
Researched July 15, 2026 — DORIS, Fiscal 2024 Mayor's Management Report, DORIS, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | Not available | 3 months |
| FY23 | 1.3 months | 3 months |
| FY24 | 3.7 months | 3 months |
| FY25 | 2.1 months | 3 months |
| FY26 (YTD) | 2.4 months | 3 months |
Why this is tracked
DORIS's Records Management Division operates off-site storage facilities holding roughly 1 million cubic feet of active physical records on behalf of New York City agencies, courts, and district attorneys' offices. When one of these offices needs a stored file, DORIS retrieves it from the warehouse and makes it available for pickup, with performance tracked by how many requests are fulfilled within 48 hours. It is an unglamorous but load-bearing function: courts and prosecutors' offices cannot operate without timely access to their own case records.
NYC Department of Records - About, DORIS Mayor's Management Report Indicator Definitions
Source: Municipal Records Management Division — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported quarterly.
Definition: The average time it takes the Law Department to approve a records disposal application, calculated from the time the Department of Records and Information Services sends the application to the Law Department. Note: Data reported as Four-month Actual for this indicator reflects first-quarter information for this quarterly-reported measure.