Russian imperial power couldn’t disregard such a powerful oppositional religious movement as the Old Believers. All enforcement actions taken by the temporal authorities towards Old Believers nationwide affected the Baikal region Old Believers as well. The degree of concern to the issues of Baikal region Old Believers was largely due to the personality of the governor general. The anti-schismatic measures taken by the provincial and central authorities in the region under study can be conditionally divided into three main areas: collecting information on the Old Believers, Old Believers-criminals tracing and punishing. Undoubtedly, the domestic policy of the temporal authorities had a significant impact on the genesis, formation and operating conditions of one of the most important markers of the Old Believers' worldview and culture – the book and manuscript tradition. In the late XIX century codification of legislation was done, the phenomenon of schism was studied, the number of the Old Believers and sectarians was identified, a system of “Secret advisory committees on schismatic issues” was created, the system of the Old Believers tracing, legal proceedings and punishment was established. The article is based on the documentary and narrative sources from the archives and libraries of the Irkutsk region, Trans-Baikal Territory and the Republic of Buryatia, materials of funds of Republic Buryatia National Library and the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylography of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences.