This might have been posted here already, but the state government in Alaska under Palin has routinely been using their personal email accounts to do state business because they decided their communication then could be kept secret. Communication that is public government business is by law a matter of public record and there are legal standards for retaining those records for a certain amount of time. This problem is not only an Alaska government problem. See this article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008180084_palinemail15.html