H. B. 4568
(By Delegate Boggs)
[Introduced
February 19, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5A-8-20 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the creation of preservation
duplicates of state records and destruction of the original
records; and authorizing the use of additional medium for use
in archiving the records.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5A-8-20 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. PUBLIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION ACT.
§5A-8-20. Alternate storage of state records.
(a) Findings and purpose. -- The Legislature finds that
continuous advances in technology have resulted and will continue
to result in the development of alternate formats for the
nonerasable storage of state records, and that the use of such alternative storage formats, where
deemed considered advisable,
promote the efficient and economical administration of government
and provide a means for the preservation of valuable records which
are subject to decay or destruction. It is the purpose of the
Legislature to authorize the storage of state records in
such
alternate formats, as may be determined by the various branches of
the government of this state, that reasonably ensure that the
originals of
such the records are copied into
such formats in a
manner in which the image
thereof of the records may not be erased
or altered, and from which true and accurate reproductions of the
original state records may be retrieved.
(b) Approved format. -- (1) In addition to those formats,
processes and systems described in section ten of this article,
sections seven-a and seven-c, article one, chapter fifty-seven of
this code, and section twelve, article five of said chapter fifty-
seven, which are otherwise authorized for the reproduction of state
records, a preservation duplicate of a state record may be stored
in any approved format where the image of the original state record
is preserved in a form in which the image thereof is incapable of
erasure or alteration, and from which a reproduction of the stored
state record may be retrieved which truly and accurately depicts
the image of the original state record.
(2) As a substitute for using medium that is incapable of erasure or alteration, a preservation duplicate of a state record
may be stored on other electronic storage medium or other medium
capable of storing digitized documents if:
(A) The medium is stored to maximize its life by minimizing
exposure to environmental contaminants;
(B) At least two copies of the preservation duplicate are made
and one copy is stored in an off-site location; and
(C) A procedure is established and followed which ensures
that:
(i) Modifications in the archiving process are made as
technology changes so that the preservation duplicates are readily
accessible, which may include migrating the preservation duplicates
to different medium or different file formats; and
(ii) The medium is periodically examined to determine if the
preservation duplicates remain readable and intact.
(c) Executive agency records. -- (1) Except for those formats,
processes and systems used for the storage of state records on the
effective date of this section, no The alternate format formats for
the storage of state records described in this section is are
authorized for the storage of the state records of any agency of
this state. unless the particular format has been approved by the
state records administrator pursuant to legislative rule
promulgated in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. No provision of this section shall be
construed to prohibit the state records administrator from
prohibiting the use of any format, process or system used for the
storage of executive state records upon his or her determination
that the same is not reasonably adequate to preserve the state
records from destruction, alteration or decay. The state records
administrator shall establish a procedure for executive agencies to
follow implementing the provisions of subdivision (2), subsection
(b) of this section by July 1, 2010. The procedure shall include,
at a minimum, the identification of examples of medium and
accompanying procedures to be followed for executive agencies when
making preservation duplicates of state records on medium readily
available, other than microfilm or microfiche.
(2) Upon creation of a preservation duplicate which stores an
original executive state record in an approved format in which the
image thereof is incapable of erasure or alteration, and from which
a reproduction of the stored state record may be retrieved which
truly and accurately depicts the image of the original state
record, the state records administrator may destroy or otherwise
dispose of the original in accordance with the provisions of
section seventeen of this article for the destruction of records.
(d) Judicial records. -- (1) Except for those formats,
processes and systems used for the storage of state records on the effective date of this section, no alternate format for the storage
of state records described in this section is authorized for the
storage of the state records of any court of this state unless the
particular format has been approved by the Supreme Court of Appeals
by rule.
No provision of This section
shall be construed to does
not prohibit the Supreme Court of Appeals from prohibiting the use
of any format, process or system used for the storage of judicial
state records upon its determination that the same is not
reasonably adequate to preserve the state records from destruction,
alteration or decay.
(2) Upon creation of a preservation duplicate which stores an
original judicial state record in an approved format in which the
image thereof is incapable of erasure or alteration, and from which
a reproduction of the stored state record may be retrieved which
truly and accurately depicts the image of the original state
record, the court or the clerk thereof creating the same may,
consistent with rules of the Supreme Court of Appeals, destroy or
otherwise dispose of the original in accordance with the provisions
of section seven, article one, chapter fifty-seven of this code for
the destruction of records.
(e) Legislative records. -- (1) Except for those formats,
processes and systems used for the storage of state records on the
effective date of this section, no alternate format for the storage of state records described in this section is authorized for the
Storage of the state records of the Legislature unless the
particular format has been approved in a writing jointly by the
Speaker of the House of Delegates and the President of the Senate
to the clerks of their respective houses. No provision of this
section shall be construed to prohibit the presiding officers of
the houses of the Legislature from prohibiting the use of any
format, process or system used for the storage of legislative state
records upon their determination that the same is not reasonably
adequate to preserve the state records from destruction, alteration
or decay.
(2) Upon creation of a preservation duplicate which stores an
original legislative state record in an approved format in which
the image thereof is incapable of erasure or alteration, and from
which a reproduction of the stored state record may be retrieved
which truly and accurately depicts the image of the original state
record, the clerks of the respective houses of the Legislature may
destroy or otherwise dispose of the original. However, prior
thereto, the clerks shall give written notice of their 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 clerks within ten days of receipt of said
notice, the clerks shall retain the original record for a period of thirty days. In the event the director fails to retrieve the
original document from the clerks within the thirty day period, the
clerks may destroy or otherwise dispose of the original without
further notice to the director.
In accordance with section twenty-
four, article six of the West Virginia Constitution procedures for
the storage and destruction of legislative records shall be
determined by each house, or by a joint rule.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the use of
additional medium for use in archiving government records.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.