SB1941eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1941 Engrossed LRB098 08538 JLS 38650 b

AN ACT concerning business.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act.

Section 2. Definitions.

(1) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

(2) "Legal material" means, whether or not in effect:

(A) the Illinois Constitution;

(B) the Laws of Illinois;

(C) the Illinois Compiled Statutes;

(D) the Illinois Administrative Code;

(E) the following categories of State administrative agency decisions: final administrative decisions;

(F) reported decisions of the following State courts: Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court;

(G) Illinois Supreme Court Rules; or

(H) Illinois Court of Claims.

(3) "Official publisher" means:

(A) for the Illinois Constitution, the Secretary of State;

(B) for the Laws of Illinois, the Secretary of State;

(C) for Illinois Compiled Statutes, the Secretary of State;

(D) for a rule published in the Illinois Administrative Code, the Secretary of State;

(E) for a rule not published in the Illinois Administrative Code, the State agency adopting the rule;

(F) for a State agency decision included under paragraph (2)(E), the State agency issuing the decision;

(G) for a State court decision included under paragraph (2)(F), the Illinois Supreme Court, Reporter of Decisions;

(H) for State court rules, the Illinois Supreme Court; or

(I) for Decisions of the Court of Claims, the Secretary of State.

(4) "Publish" means to display, present, or release to the public, or cause to be displayed, presented, or released to the public, by the official publisher.

(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 Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

Section 3. Applicability. This Act applies to all legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official under Section 4 of this Act and first published electronically on or after the effective date of this Act.

Section 4. Legal material in official electronic record.

(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) comply with Sections 5, 7, and 8 of this Act.

(b) An official publisher that publishes legal material in an electronic record and also publishes the material in a record other than an electronic record may designate the electronic record as official if the publisher complies with Sections 5, 7, and 8 of this Act.

Section 5. Authentication of official electronic record. An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official under Section 4 of this Act shall authenticate the record. To authenticate an electronic record, the publisher shall provide a method for a user to determine that the record received by the user from the publisher is unaltered from the official record published by the publisher.

Section 6. Effect of authentication.

(a) Legal material in an electronic record that is authenticated under Section 5 of this Act is presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.

(b) If another state has adopted a law substantially similar to this Act, legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official and authenticated by the official publisher in that state is presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.

(c) A party contesting the authentication of legal material in an electronic record authenticated under Section 5 of this Act has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the record is not authentic.

Section 7. Preservation and security of legal material in official electronic record.

(a) An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is or was designated as official under Section 4 of this Act shall provide for the preservation and security of the record in an electronic form or a form that is not electronic.

(b) If legal material is preserved under subsection (a) in an electronic record, the official publisher shall:

(1) ensure the integrity of the record;

(2) provide for backup 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 of this Act shall ensure that the material is reasonably available for use by the public on a permanent basis.

Section 9. Standards. In implementing this Act, an official publisher of legal material in an electronic record shall consider:

(1) standards and practices of other jurisdictions;

(2) the most recent standards regarding authentication of, preservation and security 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;

(4) the views of governmental officials and entities and other interested persons; and

(5) to the extent practicable, methods and technologies for the authentication of, preservation and security of, and public access to, legal material which are compatible with the methods and technologies used by other official publishers in this state and in other states that have adopted a law substantially similar to this Act.

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 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).