D R A F T
FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
AUTHENTICATION
AND PRESERVATION OF STATE ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIALS ACT
___________________________________________________
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERS
ON UNIFORM STATE LAWS
___________________________________________________
March 2010 Interim Draft
Without Prefatory Note or Comments
Copyright © 2009
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF
COMMISSIONERS
ON UNIFORM STATE LAWS
The ideas and conclusions set forth in this draft,
including the proposed statutory language and any comments or reporter=s notes, have not been
passed upon by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
or the Drafting Committee. They do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Conference and its Commissioners and the
Drafting Committee and its Members and Reporter. Proposed statutory language may not be used
to ascertain the intent or meaning of any promulgated final statutory proposal.
March 18, 2010
DRAFTING COMMITTEE FOR AUTHENTICATION AND PRESERVATION OF STATE ELECTRONIC
LEGAL MATERIALS ACT
The Committee appointed by and representing the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in drafting this Act consists of the following individuals:
MICHELE L. TIMMONS, 700 State Office Bldg. 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.,
St. Paul, MN 55155, Chair
JERRY L. BASSETT, 613 Alabama State House, 11S. Union St., Montgomery, AL 36130
DAVID D. BIKLEN, 153 N. Beacon St., Hartford, CT 06105
DIANE F. BOYER-VINE, State Capitol, Room 3021, Sacramento, CA 95814-4996
STEPHEN Y. CHOW, 125 Summer St., Boston, MA 02110-1624
VINCENT C. DeLIBERATO, Jr., Main Capitol Bldg., Room 641, Harrisburg, PA 17120-0033
GENE H. HENNIG, 500 IDS Center, 80 South Eighth St., Minneapolis, MN 55402-3796
STEVEN L.WILLBORN, University of Nebraska College of Law, Ross McCollum Hall, 42 & Fair St., P.O. Box 830902, Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
BARBARA A.
BINTLIFF, University of Colorado at Boulder, 424 Wolf Law Bldg., 401 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0401, Reporter
ROBERT A.
STEIN, University of Minnesota Law School, 229 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455, President
JACK DAVIES, 1201 Yale Pl., Unit
2004, Minneapolis, MN 55403-1961, Division
Chair
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION ADVISOR
LUCY THOMSON, 915 N. Quaker Dr.,
Alexandria, VA 22302, ABA Advisor
PHYLLIS B. PICKETT, 401
Legislative Office Bldg., 300 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603, ABA
Section Advisor
JOHN A. SEBERT,
111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago, IL 60602, Executive Director
Copies of this Act may be obtained from:
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERS
ON UNIFORM STATE LAWS
111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312/450-6600
AUTHENTICATION AND PRESERVATION OF STATE ELECTRONIC
LEGAL MATERIALS ACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 4.
AUTHENTICATION OF ELECTRONIC
LEGAL MATERIAL.
SECTION 5. EFFECT
OF AUTHENTICATION
SECTION 8.
UNIFORMITY OF STANDARDS.
SECTION 9. LEGAL MATERIAL FROM ANOTHER STATE.
SECTION 10.
RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE
ACT.
AUTHENTICATION AND PRESERVATION
OF STATE ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIALS ACT
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This [act] may be cited as the Authentication and
Preservation of
State Electronic Legal Materials Act.
SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. For the purposes of this [act]:
(1) “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic,
wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(2) “Electronic record” means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, or stored by electronic means, and readable online.
(3) “Legal material” means a record which is:
(A) a law or statute enacted by the state legislature in a legislative session;
(B) a codified law or statute;
(C) a state administrative rule adopted under [the state APA];
[(D) any other state administrative rule;]
[(E) a decision of a state administrative agency that has precedential effect;]
[(F) an appellate judicial decision or other judicial decision that has precedential effect;] and
[(G) any other record, as specified.]
(4) “Official publisher” means:
(A) for a law or statute enacted by the state legislature in a legislative session, [agency or official];
(B) for a codified law or statute, [agency or official];
(C) for a state administrative rule adopted under [the state APA], [agency or official];
[(D) for any other state administrative rule, [agency or official]; ]
[(E) for a decision of a state administrative agency that has precedential effect, [agency or official];]
[(F) for an appellate judicial decision or other judicial decision that has precedential effect, [agency or official];]
[(G) for any other record specified, [agency or official];] and
[(H) for any legal material for which no official publisher is designated, [secretary of state or other agency or official].]
(5) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust,
partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
(6) “Publish” means to produce or release for general distribution[bb1] .
(7) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(8) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, the
United States
jurisdiction of
the
(9) [Other definitions to be added?]
SECTION 3. APPLICABILITY.
(a) If the official publisher publishes a print version of the legal material, the official publisher may designate an electronic version as official if the requirements of Sections 4, 6, and 7 are met.
(b) If the legal material is published only in an electronic version, it must be designated official and must meet the requirements of Sections 4, 6, and 7.
SECTION 4. AUTHENTICATION OF ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL. The official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is designated official under Section 3 shall authenticate the record. To authenticate, the official publisher shall certify that the electronic record is a true and correct copy of the content of the legal material it purports to be by providing:
(1) a method for users to determine that the content of the electronic record is unaltered from the one published by the official publisher; and
(2) sufficient information to determine that the certification is valid.
SECTION 5. EFFECT OF AUTHENTICATION[bb2] .
Electronic legal material authenticated under Section 4 is presumed to
be a true and correct copy of the content of the legal material it purports to
be.
SECTION 6. PRESERVATION. The official publisher of electronic legal material subject to this [act] shall preserve the legal material. To preserve, the official publisher shall provide a method to:
(1) protect the content, including provisions for back-up and disaster recovery; and
SECTION 7. PUBLIC ACCESS. The official publisher shall provide for public access to the legal material. Public access means the legal material is reasonably available for use by the general public. If the legal material is published only in an electronic version, the official publisher shall continue to publish it electronically
(a) This [act] must be applied and construed to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among the states that enact it.
(b) In implementing the requirements of this [act], the official publisher must consider:
(1) standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
(2) any standards on authentication and preservation of records adopted by national standard-setting bodies; and
(3) the needs of electronic record users.
SECTION 9. LEGAL MATERIAL FROM ANOTHER STATE. Electronic legal material from another state that is authenticated consistent with Section 4 is presumed to be a true and correct copy of the content of the legal material it purports to be. [bb3]
SECTION 10. RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT. This [act] modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001, et seq., but does not modify, limit, or supersede Section 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in Section 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7003(b).
SECTION 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. This [act] takes effect [date]…