50.172.  Documents approved by commission to be preserved — destruction of documents, method — replacement of lost or destroyed checks, procedure. — 1.  The original of all accounts, vouchers and documents approved or to be approved by the county commission shall be preserved in the office of the county clerk or at some other place approved by the secretary of state pursuant to the provisions of section 28.120; and copies thereof shall be given to any person, county, city, town, township and school or special road district interested therein upon payment of the usual fee for copying same.  For purposes of this section, "original" shall include any electronic image of an original cancelled check that is the legal equivalent of an original check under the federal Check 21 Act, 12 U.S.C. 5001, et seq., as amended.

  2.  Annually or in accordance with destruction rules adopted by the secretary of state, the county clerk may destroy by burning or by any other method satisfactory to the county commission all paid accounts, vouchers, duplicate receipts, checks and other documents which may have been on file in the office of the county clerk for a period of five years or longer, except such documents as may at the time be the subject of litigation or dispute.  The plan for the retention and destruction of financial records shall follow the generally recognized governmental reporting practices.

  3.  Lost or destroyed county checks shall be replaced in accordance with rules of procedure therefor as established by the state auditor in the uniform accounting system established for counties pursuant to the provisions of section 29.180^*.