D
R A F T
FOR
DISCUSSION ONLY
ELECTRONIC LEGAL
MATERIAL ACT
___________________________________________________
NATIONAL
CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERS
ON
UNIFORM STATE LAWS
___________________________________________________
Includes changes from February
2011 Drafting Committee Meeting
Without Prefatory Note or Comments
Name Change Pending Executive Committee Approval
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 15, 2011
DRAFTING COMMITTEE FOR ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL 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, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, 700
State Office Bldg., 100 Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155, Chair
JERRY L. BASSETT,
Legislative Reference Service, 613 Alabama State House, 11 S. Union St., Montgomery, AL 36130
DAVID
D. BIKLEN, 153 N. Beacon St., Hartford, CT 06105
DIANE F. BOYER-VINE,
Office of Legislative Counsel, 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 S. 8th 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 Texas School of Law, 727 E. Dean Keeton St., Austin, TX 78705, Reporter
ROBERT
A. STEIN, University of Minnesota Law School, 229 19th Avenue S., 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
ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL ACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 4. LEGAL MATERIAL IN OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC RECORD.
SECTION
5. AUTHENTICATION OF ELECTRONIC RECORD.
SECTION 6. EFFECT OF AUTHENTICATION.
SECTION 7. PRESERVATION OF LEGAL MATERIAL IN ELECTRONIC
RECORD.
SECTION
8. PUBLIC ACCESS TO LEGAL MATERIAL IN
OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC RECORD.
SECTION
10. UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND
CONSTRUCTION.
SECTION
11. RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN
GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT.
[NOTE: Changes to the table of contents are made by
ULC staff. The table of contents are not
susceptible to editing, and changes, therefore, are not made by reporters.]
SECTION 1. SHORT
TITLE. This [act] may be cited as the Electronic
Legal Material Act.
SECTION 2.
DEFINITIONS. In this [act]:
(1) “Electronic” means relating to
technology having electrical, digital, magnetic,
wireless,
optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(2) “Legal material” means:
(A) the [Constitution of
this state];
(B) [legislative
enactments] enacted by the [Legislature];
(C) [name of state code];
[and]
(D) a rule adopted by a
state agency which has the effect of law[;] [and]
[[(E) a decision of a
state administrative agency which has precedential effect][;] [and]
[(F) a judicial decision
of a state court which has precedential effect][;] [and]
[(G) state court rules]].
(3) “Official publisher” means:
(A) for [the
Constitution of this state], the [insert appropriate agency or official];
(B) for [legislative
enactments] enacted by the [Legislature], the [insert appropriate agency or
official];
(C) for [name of state code], the [insert appropriate
agency or official]; [and]
(D) for a rule published
in the [insert name of administrative code], the [insert appropriate agency or
official][;] [and]
[(E) for any rule not
published in the [insert name of administrative code], the state agency
adopting the rule][;] [and]
[(F) for a state
administrative agency decision which has precedential effect, the [insert
appropriate agency or official][;] [and]
[(G) for a state court judicial
decision which has precedential effect, the [insert appropriate agency or
official][;] [and]
[(H) for state court
rules, the [insert appropriate agency or official].
(4) “Publish” means to display,
present, or release to the public.
(5) “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.
(6) “State” means a state of the United
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico,
the United States
jurisdiction
of the
SECTION 3. APPLICABILITY. This [act] applies to all legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official under Section 4 and first published on or after the effective date of the [act].
(a) If an official publisher
publishes legal material only in an electronic record, the publisher shall:
(1) designate the electronic record as
official; and
(2) meet the requirements of Sections 5,
7, and 8.
(b) If an official publisher
publishes legal material in a record other than an electronic record, the
publisher may designate an electronic record as official if the requirements of
Sections 5, 7, and 8 are met.
SECTION 5.
AUTHENTICATION OF ELECTRONIC RECORD. An official publisher
of legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official under
Section 4 shall authenticate the record by providing a method for users to
determine that the record is unaltered from the one published by the publisher.
(a)
Legal material in an electronic record that is authenticated under Section 5 is
presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.
(b)
The presumption under (a) applies to legal material in an electronic record
designated as official by another state that has adopted this [act].
(a) An official publisher of legal
material in an electronic record shall provide for the preservation,
electronically or non-electronically, of a record that is or was designated as
official under Section 4.
(b) If legal material is preserved
in an electronic record, the official publisher shall:
(1)
ensure the integrity of the record;
(2)
provide for back-up and disaster recovery of the record; and
(3)
ensure the continuing usability of the material.
SECTION 8. PUBLIC
ACCESS TO LEGAL MATERIAL IN OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC RECORD. An official publisher of legal material in an
electronic record that is required to be preserved under Section 7 shall ensure
that the material is reasonably available on a permanent basis for use by the
public.
SECTION 9. STANDARDS. In implementing this [act], an official
publisher of legal material shall consider:
(1) standards and practices of other
jurisdictions;
(2) the most recent standards
regarding preservation of, authentication of, and public access to legal
material in an electronic record and other electronic records, as promulgated by
national standard-setting bodies;
(3) the needs of users of legal
material in an electronic record; and
(4) the views of governmental
officials and entities and other interested persons.
SECTION 10.
UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION. In applying and
construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote
uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that
enact it.
SECTION 11. 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 12. EFFECTIVE
DATE. This
act is effective on __________.