SB 249: "An Act relating to official action by electronic transmission, to records, and to public records."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 249 01 "An Act relating to official action by electronic transmission, to records, and to public 02 records." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 11.81.900(b)(53) is amended to read: 05 (53) "public record" means 06 (A) each of the following that is [A DOCUMENT, PAPER, 07 BOOK, LETTER, DRAWING, MAP, PLAT, PHOTO, PHOTOGRAPHIC 08 FILE, MOTION PICTURE, FILM, MICROFILM, MICROPHOTOGRAPH, 09 EXHIBIT, MAGNETIC OR PAPER TAPE, PUNCHED CARD OR OTHER 10 DOCUMENT OF ANY OTHER MATERIAL, REGARDLESS OF 11 PHYSICAL FORM OR CHARACTERISTIC,] developed or received under 12 law or in connection with the transaction of official business and preserved, 13 required by law to be preserved, or appropriate for preservation by an 14 [ANY] agency, a municipality, or a [ANY] body subject to the open meeting
01 provision of AS 44.62.310 [,] as evidence of the organization, function, 02 policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of that agency, 03 municipality, or body [THE STATE OR MUNICIPALITY] or because of the 04 informational value in it: 05 (i) a document, paper, book, letter, drawing, map, 06 plat, photo, photographic file, motion picture, film, microfilm, 07 microphotograph, exhibit, magnetic or paper tape, punched card 08 or other document of any other material, regardless of physical 09 form or characteristic; and 10 (ii) an electronic transmission, including a text 11 message, an instant message, electronic mail, or any other form of 12 communication not directly involving the physical transmission of 13 paper that creates a record that can be retained, retrieved, and 14 reviewed by a recipient of the communication and that can be 15 reproduced in paper form through an automated process; and 16 (B) [; IT ALSO INCLUDES] staff manuals and instructions to 17 staff that affect the public; 18 * Sec. 2. AS 39.52 is amended by adding a new section to read: 19 Sec. 39.52.135. Use of state electronic delivery systems required for official 20 action by electronic transmission. (a) When taking or withholding official action, a 21 public officer may not send or cause another to send information by electronic 22 transmission within a system for electronic delivery unless the system is operated and 23 maintained by the state. 24 (b) An electronic transmission under (a) of this section is a public record 25 under AS 40.25. 26 (c) In this section, "electronic transmission" means a text message, an instant 27 message, electronic mail, or any other form of communication not directly involving 28 the physical transmission of paper that creates a record that can be retained, retrieved, 29 and reviewed by a recipient of the communication, whether the recipient is the state or 30 any other person the sender intended to receive the electronic transmission, and that 31 can be reproduced in paper form through an automated process.
01 * Sec. 3. AS 40.21.150(6) is amended to read: 02 (6) "record" 03 (A) means each of the following that is [ANY DOCUMENT, 04 PAPER, BOOK, LETTER, DRAWING, MAP, PLAT, PHOTO, 05 PHOTOGRAPHIC FILE, MOTION PICTURE FILM, MICROFILM, 06 MICROPHOTOGRAPH, EXHIBIT, MAGNETIC OR PAPER TAPE, 07 PUNCHED CARD, ELECTRONIC RECORD, OR OTHER DOCUMENT OF 08 ANY OTHER MATERIAL, REGARDLESS OF PHYSICAL FORM OR 09 CHARACTERISTIC,] developed or received under law or in connection with 10 the transaction of official business and preserved, required by law to be 11 preserved, or appropriate for preservation by an agency or a political 12 subdivision of the state [,] as evidence of the organization, function, policies, 13 decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the state or political 14 subdivision or because of the informational value in it: 15 (i) a document, paper, book, letter, drawing, map, 16 plat, photo, photographic file, motion picture, film, microfilm, 17 microphotograph, exhibit, magnetic or paper tape, punched card, 18 electronic record, or other document of any other material, 19 regardless of physical form or characteristic; and 20 (ii) an electronic transmission, including a text 21 message, an instant message, electronic mail, or any other form of 22 communication not directly involving the physical transmission of 23 paper that creates a record that can be retained, retrieved, and 24 reviewed by a recipient of the communication and that can be 25 reproduced in paper form through an automated process; 26 (B) [THEM; THE TERM] does not include library and 27 museum material developed or acquired and preserved solely for reference, 28 historical, or exhibition purposes, extra copies of documents preserved solely 29 for convenience of reference, or stocks of publications and processed 30 documents; 31 * Sec. 4. AS 40.25.110(b) is amended to read:
01 (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the fee for copying public 02 records may not exceed the cost of materials and supplies used to duplicate the 03 records [STANDARD UNIT COST OF DUPLICATION] established by the public 04 agency and may not include the labor costs or overhead costs associated with the 05 duplication. 06 * Sec. 5. AS 40.25.115(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) Notwithstanding AS 40.25.110(b) and (d) [AS 40.25.110(b) - (d)] to the 08 contrary, upon request and payment of a fee established under (b) of this section, a 09 public agency may provide electronic services and products involving public records 10 to members of the public. A public agency is encouraged to make information 11 available in usable electronic formats to the greatest extent feasible. The activities 12 authorized under this section may not take priority over the primary responsibilities of 13 a public agency. 14 * Sec. 6. AS 40.25.125 is repealed and reenacted to read: 15 Sec. 40.25.125. Enforcement; crimes. (a) Whether acting independently or in 16 concert with another, a person who unlawfully impairs or attempts to impair the verity, 17 legibility, or availability of a public record is subject to 18 (1) prosecution for a criminal offense, including an offense under 19 AS 11.56.815 and 11.56.820; 20 (2) injunction by order of the superior court. 21 (b) A person may seek injunctive relief under (a) of this section without 22 exhausting that person's remedies under AS 40.25.123 and 40.25.124. 23 * Sec. 7. AS 40.25.220(3) is amended to read: 24 (3) "public record" or "public records" 25 (A) means each of the following [BOOKS, PAPERS, FILES, 26 ACCOUNTS, WRITINGS, INCLUDING DRAFTS AND 27 MEMORIALIZATIONS OF CONVERSATIONS, AND OTHER ITEMS, 28 REGARDLESS OF FORMAT OR PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS,] that is 29 [ARE] developed or received under law or in connection with the 30 transaction of official business by a public agency, or by a private contractor 31 for a public agency, and [THAT ARE] preserved, required by law to be
01 preserved, or appropriate for preservation by the public agency [FOR 02 THEIR INFORMATIONAL VALUE OR] as evidence of the organization, 03 function, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities 04 [OR OPERATION] of the public agency or because of the informational 05 value in it: 06 (i) a document, paper, book, letter, drawing, map, 07 plat, photo, photographic file, motion picture, film, microfilm, 08 microphotograph, exhibit, magnetic or paper tape, punched card, 09 electronic record, or other document of any other material, 10 regardless of physical form or characteristic; and 11 (ii) an electronic transmission, including a text 12 message, an instant message, electronic mail, or any other form of 13 communication not directly involving the physical transmission of 14 paper that creates a record that can be retained, retrieved, and 15 reviewed by a recipient of the communication and that can be 16 reproduced in paper form through an automated process; 17 (B) [; "PUBLIC RECORDS"] does not include proprietary 18 software programs; 19 * Sec. 8. AS 40.25.110(c) is repealed.