Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1522 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 219 FILED ON: 1/11/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1522
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Carmine Lawrence Gentile
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/11/2023Sal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk2/8/2023 1 of 6
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 219 FILED ON: 1/11/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1522
18	18	By Representative Gentile of Sudbury, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1522) of
19	19	Carmine Lawrence Gentile and Sal N. DiDomenico that certain legal material in electronic
20	20	records be designated as official. The Judiciary.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
24	24	(2023-2024)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 4:--
30	30	2 CHAPTER 5
31	31	3 UNIFORM ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL ACT
32	32	4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Electronic
33	33	5Legal Material Act.
34	34	6 SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
35	35	7 (1) “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic,
36	36	8 wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
37	37	9 (2) “Legal material” means, whether or not in effect:
38	38	10 (A) the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 2 of 6
39	39	11 (B) the Session Laws;
40	40	12 (C) the General Laws;
41	41	13 (D) a state agency rule or decision that has or had the effect of law;
42	42	14 (E) other material published in the Massachusetts Register or the Code of Massachusetts
43	43	15Regulations; or
44	44	16 (F) the reported decisions and rules of the following state courts: the Supreme Judicial
45	45	17Court, the Appeals Court and the Trial Court.
46	46	18 (3) “Official publisher” means:
47	47	19 (A) for the material recited in subsections (2)(A)-(C), the Secretary of the
48	48	20Commonwealth;
49	49	21 (B) for the material recited in subsection (2)(D) that is not published in the Massachusetts
50	50	22Register or the Code of Massachusetts Regulation, the state agency;
51	51	23 (C) for the material recited in subsection (2)(E), the Secretary of the Commonwealth; or
52	52	24 (E) for the material recited in subsection (2)(F), the reporter of decisions of the Supreme
53	53	25Judicial Court.
54	54	26 (4) “Publish” means to display, present, or release to the public, or cause to be displayed,
55	55	27presented, or released to the public, by the official publisher.
56	56	28 (5) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in
57	57	29an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. 3 of 6
58	58	30 (6) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the
59	59	31United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of
60	60	32the United States.
61	61	33 SECTION 3. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to all legal material in an
62	62	34electronic record that is designated as official under section 4 and first published electronically
63	63	35on or after the effective date of this Act.
64	64	36 SECTION 4. LEGAL MATERIAL IN OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC RECORD.
65	65	37 (a) If an official publisher publishes legal material only in an electronic record, the
66	66	38publisher shall:
67	67	39 (1) designate the electronic record as official; and
68	68	40 (2) comply with sections 5, 7, and 8.
69	69	41 (b) An official publisher that publishes legal material in an electronic record and also
70	70	42publishes the material in a record other than an electronic record may designate the electronic
71	71	43record as official if the publisher complies with sections 5, 7, and 8.
72	72	44 SECTION 5. AUTHENTICATION OF OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC RECORD. An
73	73	45official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official under
74	74	46section 4 shall authenticate the record. To authenticate an electronic record, the publisher shall
75	75	47provide a method for a user to determine that the record received by the user from the publisher
76	76	48is unaltered from the official record published by the publisher.
77	77	49 SECTION 6. EFFECT OF AUTHENTICATION. 4 of 6
78	78	50 (a) Legal material in an electronic record that is authenticated under section 5 is
79	79	51presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.
80	80	52 (b) If another State has adopted a law substantially similar to this Act, legal material in an
81	81	53electronic record that is designated as official and authenticated by the official publisher in that
82	82	54State is presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.
83	83	55 (c) A party contesting the authentication of legal material in an electronic record
84	84	56authenticated under section 5 has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that
85	85	57the record is not authentic.
86	86	58 SECTION 7. PRESERVATION AND SECURITY OF LEGAL MATERIAL IN
87	87	59OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC RECORD.
88	88	60 (a) An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is or was designated
89	89	61as official under section 4 shall provide for the preservation and security of the record in an
90	90	62electronic form or a form that is not electronic.
91	91	63 (b) If legal material is preserved under subsection (a) in an electronic record, the official
92	92	64publisher shall:
93	93	65 (1) ensure the integrity of the record;
94	94	66 (2) provide for backup and disaster recovery of the record; and
95	95	67 (3) ensure the continuing usability of the material.
96	96	68 SECTION 8. PUBLIC ACCESS TO LEGAL MATERIAL IN OFFICIAL
97	97	69ELECTRONIC RECORD. An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is 5 of 6
98	98	70required to be preserved under section 7 shall ensure that the material is reasonably available for
99	99	71use by the public on a permanent basis.
100	100	72 SECTION 9. STANDARDS. In implementing this Act, an official publisher of legal
101	101	73material in an electronic record shall consult the persons identified in section 17 of chapter 110G
102	102	74and consider:
103	103	75 (1) standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
104	104	76 (2) the most recent standards regarding authentication of, preservation and security of,
105	105	77and public access to, legal material in an electronic record and other electronic records, as
106	106	78promulgated by national standard-setting bodies;
107	107	79 (3) the needs of users of legal material in an electronic record;
108	108	80 (4) the views of governmental officials and entities and other interested persons; and
109	109	81 (5) to the extent practicable, methods and technologies for the authentication of,
110	110	82preservation and security of, and public access to, legal material which are compatible with the
111	111	83methods and technologies used by other official publishers in this state and in other states that
112	112	84have adopted a law substantially similar to this chapter.
113	113	85 SECTION 10. UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION. In
114	114	86applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote
115	115	87uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
116	116	88 SECTION 11. RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND
117	117	89NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT. This Act modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal
118	118	90Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. section 7001, et seq., but 6 of 6
119	119	91does not modify, limit, or supersede section 101(c) of that Act, 15 U.S.C. section 7001(c), or
120	120	92authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in section 103(b) of that Act, 15
121	121	93U.S.C. section 7003(b).
122	122	94 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect on July 1, 2022.