I just got back in town and found the thread on federal requirements to archive e-mail messages. Florida also has such requirements. E-mail messages are treated as any other documents and as such, readers and writers are subject to $500 fines for throwing away documents (messages) before their required retention period has elapsed. Retention periods are outlined in the General Records Schedule for State Agencies published by the Department of State. As an example, correspondence must be kept for three years. Messages can retained in either electronic format or printed format. Since these are the same laws that govern non-electronic document, my guess would be that most government employees (assuming that other states have laws similar to Florida's) aren't familiar with the requirements for any format.