98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
SB1941

 

Introduced 2/15/2013, by Sen. John G. Mulroe

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act to provide for the utilization of legal material in an electronic record. Applies to all legal material designated as official under the Act and published after its effective date. Defines legal material and other terms. Includes court reports, statutes, session laws, rules, and agency decisions. Provides for an official publisher for the material, including the Supreme Court and the Secretary of State. Provides for authentication of official electronic records and for their preservation. Establishes standards for implementing the Act.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB1941LRB098 08538 JLS 38650 b

1    AN ACT concerning business.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act.
 
6    Section 2. Definitions.
7    (1) "Electronic" means relating to technology having
8electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical,
9electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
10    (2) "Legal material" means, whether or not in effect:
11        (A) the Illinois Constitution;
12        (B) the Laws of Illinois;
13        (C) the Illinois Compiled Statutes;
14        (D) the Illinois Administrative Code;
15        (E) the following categories of State administrative
16    agency decisions: final administrative decisions;
17        (F) reported decisions of the following State courts:
18    Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court;
19        (G) Illinois Supreme Court Rules; or
20        (H) Illinois Court of Claims.
21    (3) "Official publisher" means:
22        (A) for the Illinois Constitution, the Secretary of
23    State;

 

 

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1        (B) for the Laws of Illinois, the Secretary of State;
2        (C) for Illinois Compiled Statutes, the Secretary of
3    State;
4        (D) for a rule published in the Illinois Administrative
5    Code, the Secretary of State;
6        (E) for a rule not published in the Illinois
7    Administrative Code, the State agency adopting the rule;
8        (F) for a State agency decision included under
9    paragraph (2)(E), the State Agency issuing the decision;
10        (G) for a State court decision included under paragraph
11    (2)(F), the Illinois Supreme Court, Reporter of Decisions;
12        (H) for State court rules, the Illinois Supreme Court;
13    or
14        (I) for Decisions of the Court of Claims, the Secretary
15    of State.
16    (4) "Publish" means to display, present, or release to the
17public, or cause to be displayed, presented, or released to the
18public, by the official publisher.
19    (5) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a
20tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other
21medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
22    (6) "State" means a state of the United States, the
23District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
24Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the
25jurisdiction of the United States.
 

 

 

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1    Section 3. Applicability. This Act applies to all legal
2material in an electronic record that is designated as official
3under Section 4 of this Act and first published electronically
4on or after the effective date of this Act.
 
5    Section 4. Legal material in official electronic record.
6    (a) If an official publisher publishes legal material only
7in an electronic record, the publisher shall:
8        (1) designate the electronic record as official; and
9        (2) comply with Sections 5, 7, and 8 of this Act.
10    (b) An official publisher that publishes legal material in
11an electronic record and also publishes the material in a
12record other than an electronic record may designate the
13electronic record as official if the publisher complies with
14Sections 5, 7, and 8 of this Act.
 
15    Section 5. Authentication of official electronic record.
16An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record
17that is designated as official under Section 4 of this Act
18shall authenticate the record. To authenticate an electronic
19record, the publisher shall provide a method for a user to
20determine that the record received by the user from the
21publisher is unaltered from the official record published by
22the publisher.
 
23    Section 6. Effect of authentication.

 

 

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1    (a) Legal material in an electronic record that is
2authenticated under Section 5 of this Act is presumed to be an
3accurate copy of the legal material.
4    (b) If another state has adopted a law substantially
5similar to this Act, legal material in an electronic record
6that is designated as official and authenticated by the
7official publisher in that state is presumed to be an accurate
8copy of the legal material.
9    (c) A party contesting the authentication of legal material
10in an electronic record authenticated under Section 5 of this
11Act has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the
12evidence that the record is not authentic.
 
13    Section 7. Preservation and security of legal material in
14official electronic record.
15    (a) An official publisher of legal material in an
16electronic record that is or was designated as official under
17Section 4 of this Act shall provide for the preservation and
18security of the record in an electronic form or a form that is
19not electronic.
20    (b) If legal material is preserved under subsection (a) in
21an electronic record, the official publisher shall:
22        (1) ensure the integrity of the record;
23        (2) provide for backup and disaster recovery of the
24    record; and
25        (3) ensure the continuing usability of the material.
 

 

 

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1    Section 8. Public access to legal material in official
2electronic record. An official publisher of legal material in
3an electronic record that is required to be preserved under
4Section 7 of this Act shall ensure that the material is
5reasonably available for use by the public on a permanent
6basis.
 
7    Section 9. Standards. In implementing this Act, an official
8publisher of legal material in an electronic record shall
9consider:
10    (1) standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
11    (2) the most recent standards regarding authentication of,
12preservation and security of, and public access to, legal
13material in an electronic record and other electronic records,
14as promulgated by national standard-setting bodies;
15    (3) the needs of users of legal material in an electronic
16record;
17    (4) the views of governmental officials and entities and
18other interested persons; and
19    (5) to the extent practicable, methods and technologies for
20the authentication of, preservation and security of, and public
21access to, legal material which are compatible with the methods
22and technologies used by other official publishers in this
23state and in other states that have adopted a law substantially
24similar to this Act.
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. Uniformity of application and construction. In
2applying and construing this uniform Act, consideration must be
3given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect
4to its subject matter among states that enact it.
 
5    Section 11. Relation To Electronic Signatures In Global And
6National Commerce Act. This Act modifies, limits, and
7supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National
8Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq., but does not
9modify, limit, or supersede Section 101(c) of that Act, 15
10U.S.C. Section 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any
11of the notices described in Section 103(b) of that act, 15
12U.S.C. Section 7003(b).