Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1799 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		84R22651 CJC-D
2	2		By: Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 1799
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1799:
4		-	By: Thompson of Harris C.S.H.B. No. 1799
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9	7		relating to the adoption of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material
10	8		Act.
11	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	10		SECTION 1. Chapter 2051, Government Code, is amended by
13	11		adding Subchapter E to read as follows:
14	12		SUBCHAPTER E. UNIFORM ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL ACT
15	13		Sec. 2051.151. SHORT TITLE. This subchapter may be cited as
16	14		the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act.
17	15		Sec. 2051.152. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
18	16		(1) "Electronic" means relating to technology having
19	17		electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic,
20	18		or similar capabilities.
21	19		(2) "Legal material" means, whether or not in effect:
22	20		(A) the constitution and statutes of this state;
23	21		(B) the general or special laws passed in a
24	22		regular or special session of the Texas Legislature; and
25	23		(C) a state agency rule adopted in accordance
26	24		with Chapter 2001.
27	25		(3) "Official publisher" means:
28	26		(A) for legal material described by Subdivision
29	27		(2)(A), the Texas Legislative Council; and
30	28		(B) for legal material described by Subdivision
31	29		(2)(B) or (C), the secretary of state.
32	30		(4) "Publish" means displaying, presenting, or
33	31		releasing to the public, or causing to be displayed, presented, or
34	32		released to the public, legal material by the official publisher.
35	33		(5) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a
36	34		tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium
37	35		and is retrievable in perceivable form.
38	36		(6) "State" means a state of the United States, the
39	37		District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
40	38		Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the
41	39		jurisdiction of the United States.
42	40		Sec. 2051.153. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies to
43	41		all legal material in an electronic record that is:
44	42		(1) designated as official by the official publisher
45	43		under Section 2051.154; and
46	44		(2) first published electronically by the official
47	45		publisher on or after January 1, 2017.
48	46		Sec. 2051.154. LEGAL MATERIAL IN OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC
49	47		RECORD. (a) If the official publisher publishes legal material
50	48		only in an electronic record, the official publisher shall:
51	49		(1) designate the electronic record as official; and
52	50		(2) comply with Sections 2051.155, 2051.157, and
53	51		2051.158.
54	52		(b) If the official publisher publishes legal material in an
55	53		electronic record and also publishes the material in a record other
56	54		than an electronic record, the official publisher may designate the
57	55		electronic record as official if the official publisher complies
58	56		with Sections 2051.155, 2051.157, and 2051.158.
59	57		Sec. 2051.155. AUTHENTICATION OF OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC
60	58		RECORD. (a) If the official publisher designates an electronic
61	59		record as official in accordance with Section 2051.154, the
62	60		official publisher shall authenticate the record.
63	61		(b) The official publisher authenticates an electronic
64	62		record by providing a method with which a person viewing the
65	63		electronic record is able to determine that the electronic record
66	64		is unaltered from the official record published by the official
67	65		publisher.
68	66		Sec. 2051.156. EFFECT OF AUTHENTICATION. (a) Legal
69	67		material in an electronic record that is authenticated as provided
70	68		by Section 2051.155 is presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal
71	69		material.
72	70		(b) If another state has adopted a law that is substantially
73	71		similar to this subchapter, legal material in an electronic record
74	72		that is authenticated in that state is presumed to be an accurate
75	73		copy of the legal material.
76	74		(c) A party contesting the authenticity of legal material in
77	75		an electronic record authenticated as provided by Section 2051.155
78	76		has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that
79	77		the record is not authentic.
80	78		Sec. 2051.157. PRESERVATION AND SECURITY OF LEGAL MATERIAL
81	79		IN OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC RECORD. (a) The official publisher of legal
82	80		material in an electronic record designated as official in
83	81		accordance with Section 2051.154 shall provide for the preservation
84	82		and security of the record in an electronic form or in a form that is
85	83		not electronic.
86	84		(b) If legal material is preserved under Subsection (a) in
87	85		an electronic record, the official publisher shall:
88	86		(1) ensure the integrity of the record;
89	87		(2) provide for backup and disaster recovery of the
90	88		record; and
91	89		(3) ensure the continuing usability of the legal
92	90		material in the record.
93	91		Sec. 2051.158. PUBLIC ACCESS. The official publisher of
94	92		legal material in an electronic record that is required to be
95	93		preserved under Section 2051.157 shall ensure that the material is
96	94		reasonably available for use by the public on a permanent basis.
97	95		Sec. 2051.159. STANDARDS. In implementing this subchapter,
98	96		the official publisher of legal material in an electronic record
99	97		shall consider:
100	98		(1) the standards and practices of other
101	99		jurisdictions;
102	100		(2) the most recent standards regarding
103	101		authentication, preservation, and security of and public access to
104	102		legal material in an electronic record and other electronic
105	103		records, as adopted by national standard-setting bodies;
106	104		(3) the needs of users of legal material in electronic
107	105		records;
108	106		(4) the views of governmental officials and entities
109	107		and other interested persons; and
110	108		(5) to the extent practicable, the methods and
111	109		technologies for the authentication, preservation, and security of
112	110		and public access to legal material that are compatible with the
113	111		methods and technologies used by official publishers in other
114	112		states that have adopted a law that is substantially similar to this
115	113		subchapter.
116	114		Sec. 2051.160. UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION.
117	115		In applying and construing this subchapter, consideration must be
118	116		given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to
119	117		the subject matter of this subchapter among the states that enact a
120	118		law similar to this subchapter.
121	119		Sec. 2051.161. RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL
122	120		AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT. This subchapter modifies, limits, and
123	121		supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National
124	122		Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq.) but does not modify,
125	123		limit, or supersede Section 101(c) of that Act (15 U.S.C. Section
126	124		7001(c)) or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices
127	125		described in Section 103(b) of that Act (15 U.S.C. Section
128	126		7003(b)).
129	127		SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.