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Council may decide there is no reason for the Electronic Communications Policy to apply to that committee. There is no legal requirement to adopt the Policy at all, much less to apply it to advisory committees. However, the Policy should apply to all committees that are governed by the Open Meeting Law if the purpose of the Policy is to ensure compliance with the Open Meeting Law by providing rules for the use of electronic communications. III. What requirements does the Electronic Communications Policy impose on Council members to retain �overnment records? Minnesota law requires all cities to make and preserve all records necessary for a full and accurate knowledge of the city's official activities. Minn. Stat. � 15.17. Cities cannot destroy records without statutory authority or in accordance with the record retention schedule. Minn. Stat. � 138.17, subd. 7. It is our understanding that the City follows the State Historical Society's Records Retention Schedule for Minnesota Cities. "Government records" are defined as a record of the City, including all cards, correspondence, discs, maps, memoranda, microfilms, papers, photographs, recordings, reports, tapes, writings, optical disks, and other data, information, or documentary material, regardless of the physical form or characteristics, storage media, or conditions of use, made or received by an officer or agency of a city or in connection with the transaction of public business by an officer or agency. Minn. Stat. � 138.17, subd. 1(b) (1). Under the record retention laws, there is no difference between electronic communications and regular mail correspondence. While "government records" are broadly defined to include many types of documents and data, the statute limits them to records made or received in connection with the transaction of public business. Id. The statute further expressly defines "records" to exclude data and information that does not become part of an official transaction. Minn. Stat. � 138.17, subd. 1(b) (4). As a result, the only electronic communications that would need to be retained for record retention purposes are those that become part of an official transaction. The Policy has been revised to reflect these limitations. Under the revised Policy, Council Members need only provide the City Manager with an electronic communication that became part of an official City transaction. Under the record retention statute, there is no requirement to retain multiple copies of government records. As a result, the Policy has also been revised to clarify that Council Members are not obligated to retain or provide any electronic communications that the City already possesses. 3