COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 470
(By Senator Snyder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 17, 1999.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seven-c, article one, chapter
fifty-seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to authorizing
optical image media preservation of certain county and court
records.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seven-c, article one, chapter fifty-seven of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. LEGISLATIVE ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS; PUBLIC RECORDS.
§57-1-7c. Use of microfilm or microcards or optical image storage
media to reproduce and preserve records; destruction or
transfer of originals to archivist.
The clerk of any court of record of the state, with the
approval of the court for which he or she is clerk,
and the county
clerk, with the approval of the county commission, may, cause any
or all records, papers, plats or other documents kept by him or her to be reproduced on photographic microfilm
,or microcards
or optical
storage utilizing nonerasable write once read many optical image
media, and may
, with the approval of the court for which he or she
is clerk, record, keep and preserve any and all records, papers,
plats or other documents required by the laws of this state to be
recorded or kept by said clerk or court exclusively upon
photographic microfilm
, or microcards
, or optical image media
instead of in well-bound books or instead of by any other method
heretofore prescribed by law:
Provided: That any storage media
utilized must be determined to be permanent in nature and may not
allow changes to stored documents upon preservation.
Such The photographic microfilm
, optical image storage media
and microcards shall be of durable material and possess good,
archival qualities. The device used to reproduce such records on
such film
, and cards
or optical storage media shall be one which
accurately reproduces the original thereof in all details
. Such
photographic microfilm and microcards and shall be deemed to be an
original record for all purposes, including introduction into
evidence in all courts or administrative agencies. A transcript,
exemplification or photographic reproduction thereof shall, when
properly authenticated by the clerk of such court, be deemed for all purposes to be a transcript, exemplification or certified copy
of the original.
Such photographic microfilm
, optical image storage media and
microcards shall be put in convenient, accessible fireproof files
and adequate provision shall be made for preserving, examining and
using the same.
Any
such records, papers, plats or other documents not held
for others by said clerk or court or required by law to be
delivered to some other person, court, corporation or agency, may
with the approval of the court keeping such records, papers, plats
or other documents be destroyed; but before any such records,
papers, plats or other documents are authorized to be destroyed the
court keeping them or the clerk thereof shall obtain the advice and
counsel of the state historian or archivist, or his designated
representatives, as to the desirability of placing the said
records, papers, plats or other documents in the department of
archives and history. However, prior to destroying or otherwise
disposing of the same, the court or clerk thereof shall give
written notice of the intention to do so to the director of the
section of archives and history of the division of culture and
history. Upon the written request of the director, given to the
court or clerk thereof within ten days of receipt of said notice,
the court or clerk thereof shall retain the original record for a period of thirty days. In the event the director fails to retrieve
the original document from the court or clerk thereof within the
thirty-day period, the court or clerk thereof may destroy or
otherwise dispose of the original without further notice to the
director.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow Clerks to utilize
non-erasable optical image media to make permanent records for
storage of recorded documents.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)