ENROLLED ORIGINAL
A RESOLUTION
25-672
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
October 1, 2024
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District of
Columbia Public Records Management Act of 1985 to clarify that communications
created or received electronically in the course of official business are subject to existing
record-retention obligations.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Fidelity in Access to Government Communications Clarification
Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2024”.
Sec. 2. (a) This measure closes a gap in the law. The District does not currently have a
consistent, government-wide policy regarding electronic communications.
(b) On March 1, 2024, the Council unanimously passed the Fidelity in Access to
Government Communications Clarification Second Temporary Amendment Act of 2023,
effective March 1, 2024 (D.C. Law 25-130; 71 DCR 859) (“temporary act”). The temporary act
will expire on October 12, 2024.
(c) The temporary act was passed after a concerning report regarding the Executive’s use
of WhatsApp Messenger was published online. Among many features available within the
application is the ability to auto-delete messages after a set period of time.
(d) Emergency legislation is therefore necessary to ensure that existing record retention
guidelines continue to apply to a wide variety of electronic communications and to ensure public
access to information is not diminished or compromised.
Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute
emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Fidelity in Access to Government
Communications Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single
reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.