CSSB 249(JUD): "An Act relating to official action by electronic transmission, to records, and to public records."
00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 249(JUD) 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" 06 (A) means each of the following that is [A DOCUMENT, 07 PAPER, BOOK, LETTER, DRAWING, MAP, PLAT, PHOTO, 08 PHOTOGRAPHIC FILE, MOTION PICTURE, FILM, MICROFILM, 09 MICROPHOTOGRAPH, EXHIBIT, MAGNETIC OR PAPER TAPE, 10 PUNCHED CARD OR OTHER DOCUMENT OF ANY OTHER 11 MATERIAL, REGARDLESS OF PHYSICAL FORM OR 12 CHARACTERISTIC,] developed or received under law or in connection with 13 the transaction of official business and preserved or required by law to be 14 preserved [APPROPRIATE FOR PRESERVATION] by an [ANY] agency, a
01 municipality, or a [ANY] body subject to the open meeting provision of 02 AS 44.62.310 [,] as evidence of the organization, function, policies, decisions, 03 procedures, operations, or other activities of that agency, municipality, or 04 body [THE STATE OR MUNICIPALITY] 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) [; IT ALSO INCLUDES] staff manuals and 12 instructions to staff that affect the public; 13 (B) does not include 14 (i) proprietary software programs; 15 (ii) library and museum material developed or 16 acquired and preserved solely for reference, historical, or 17 exhibition purposes; 18 (iii) extra copies of documents preserved solely for 19 convenience of reference; 20 (iv) stocks of publications and processed documents; 21 or 22 (v) material that is available for public inspection 23 during state business hours in an agency's office or in a public 24 library, unrestricted records in the custody of the state archivist or 25 the state recorder, records relating to a public agency's regularly 26 conducted activities, including adjudicatory activities, that are 27 recorded and open to the public, books in a public library, statutes, 28 published court opinions, published legal opinions, published 29 regulations, magazines, journals, state land plats, published 30 portions of case files maintained by the department of natural 31 resources, unrestricted motor vehicle records, and published
01 treatises; 02 * Sec. 2. AS 39.25 is amended by adding a new section to read: 03 Sec. 39.25.165. Official action through private electronic transmission 04 systems prohibited. (a) When sending or receiving a written electronic transmission 05 for the purpose of taking or withholding official action, a public officer shall use a 06 system that is operated and maintained by the state or under a contract with the state, 07 unless 08 (1) it is not feasible to use that system; 09 (2) there is a compelling reason for the transmission to occur without 10 delay; and 11 (3) the material transmitted is not confidential by law. 12 (b) An electronic transmission under (a) of this section is a public record 13 under AS 40.25. 14 (c) The prohibition under (a) of this section does not apply to a public officer 15 who is taking or withholding official action during a public safety emergency. 16 (d) In this section, 17 (1) "official action" means advice, participation, or assistance, 18 including for example, a recommendation, decision, approval, disapproval, vote, or 19 other similar action, including inaction, by a public officer; 20 (2) "public officer" means 21 (A) a permanent, probationary, seasonal, temporary, 22 provisional, or nonpermanent employee of an agency, whether in the classified, 23 partially exempt, or exempt service; 24 (B) a member of a board or commission; and 25 (C) a state officer designated by the governor to act as trustee 26 of the trust, or a person to whom the trustee has delegated trust duties; in this 27 paragraph, "trust" has the meaning given in AS 37.14.450. 28 * Sec. 3. AS 40.21.150(6) is amended to read: 29 (6) "record" 30 (A) means each of the following that is [ANY DOCUMENT, 31 PAPER, BOOK, LETTER, DRAWING, MAP, PLAT, PHOTO,
01 PHOTOGRAPHIC FILE, MOTION PICTURE FILM, MICROFILM, 02 MICROPHOTOGRAPH, EXHIBIT, MAGNETIC OR PAPER TAPE, 03 PUNCHED CARD, ELECTRONIC RECORD, OR OTHER DOCUMENT OF 04 ANY OTHER MATERIAL, REGARDLESS OF PHYSICAL FORM OR 05 CHARACTERISTIC,] developed or received under law or in connection with 06 the transaction of official business and preserved or required by law to be 07 preserved [APPROPRIATE FOR PRESERVATION] by an agency or a 08 political subdivision of the state [,] as evidence of the organization, function, 09 policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the state or 10 political subdivision or because of the informational value in it: 11 (i) a document, paper, book, letter, drawing, map, 12 plat, photo, photographic file, motion picture, film, microfilm, 13 microphotograph, exhibit, magnetic or paper tape, punched card, 14 electronic record, or other document of any other material, 15 regardless of physical form or characteristic; and 16 (ii) staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect 17 the public; 18 (B) [THEM; THE TERM] does not include 19 (i) proprietary software programs; 20 (ii) library and museum material developed or acquired 21 and preserved solely for reference, historical, or exhibition purposes; 22 (iii) [,] extra copies of documents preserved solely for 23 convenience of reference; 24 (iv) [, OR] stocks of publications and processed 25 documents; or 26 (v) material that is available for public inspection 27 during state business hours in an agency's office or in a public 28 library, including unrestricted records in the custody of the state 29 archivist or the state recorder, records relating to a public agency's 30 regularly conducted activities, including adjudicatory activities, 31 that are recorded and open to the public, books in a public library,
01 statutes, published court opinions, published legal opinions, 02 published regulations, magazines, journals, state land plats, 03 published portions of case files maintained by the department of 04 natural resources, unrestricted motor vehicle records, and 05 published treatises; 06 * Sec. 4. AS 40.25.110(b) is amended to read: 07 (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the fee for copying public 08 records may not exceed the cost of materials and supplies used to duplicate the 09 records [STANDARD UNIT COST OF DUPLICATION] established by the public 10 agency and may not include the labor costs or overhead costs associated with the 11 duplication. 12 * Sec. 5. AS 40.25.110(c) is amended to read: 13 (c) If the production of records for one requester in a calendar month exceeds 14 five person-hours and the agency determines that the request is by a corporation 15 other than a news media corporation, is unduly burdensome, or is for a 16 commercial purpose, the public agency shall require the requester to pay the 17 personnel costs required during the month to complete the search and copying tasks. 18 The personnel costs may not exceed the actual salary and benefit costs for the 19 personnel time required to perform the search and copying tasks. The requester shall 20 pay the fee before the records are disclosed, and the public agency may require 21 payment in advance of the search. If the agency determines that the request is 22 unjustifiably burdensome, it shall suspend searching and copying for a period of 23 10 business days with notice to requestor, help the requestor revise the request, 24 and reconsider the agency's determination. If the agency determines after 25 reconsideration that the request is justifiable, the agency may not require the 26 requestor to pay personnel costs under this subsection. 27 * Sec. 6. AS 40.25.115(a) is amended to read: 28 (a) Notwithstanding AS 40.25.110(b) and (d) [AS 40.25.110(b) - (d)] to the 29 contrary, upon request and payment of a fee established under (b) of this section, a 30 public agency may provide electronic services and products involving public records 31 to members of the public. A public agency is encouraged to make information
01 available in usable electronic formats to the greatest extent feasible. The activities 02 authorized under this section may not take priority over the primary responsibilities of 03 a public agency. 04 * Sec. 7. AS 40.25.125 is repealed and reenacted to read: 05 Sec. 40.25.125. Enforcement; crimes. (a) Whether acting independently or in 06 concert with another, a person who unlawfully impairs or attempts to impair the verity, 07 legibility, or availability of a public record is subject to 08 (1) prosecution for a criminal offense under AS 11.56.815 and 09 11.56.820; 10 (2) injunction by order of the superior court. 11 (b) A person may seek injunctive relief under (a) of this section without 12 exhausting that person's remedies under AS 40.25.123 and 40.25.124. 13 * Sec. 8. AS 40.25.220(3) is amended to read: 14 (3) "public record" or "public records" 15 (A) means each of the following [BOOKS, PAPERS, FILES, 16 ACCOUNTS, WRITINGS, INCLUDING DRAFTS AND 17 MEMORIALIZATIONS OF CONVERSATIONS, AND OTHER ITEMS, 18 REGARDLESS OF FORMAT OR PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS,] that is 19 [ARE] developed or received under law or in connection with the 20 transaction of official business by a public agency [, OR BY A PRIVATE 21 CONTRACTOR FOR A PUBLIC AGENCY,] and [THAT ARE] preserved or 22 required by law to be preserved [FOR THEIR INFORMATIONAL VALUE 23 OR] as evidence of the organization, function, policies, decisions, 24 procedures, operations, or other activities [OR OPERATION] of the public 25 agency or because of the informational value in it: 26 (i) a document, paper, book, letter, drawing, map, 27 plat, photo, photographic file, motion picture, film, microfilm, 28 microphotograph, exhibit, magnetic or paper tape, punched card, 29 electronic record, or other document of any other material, 30 regardless of physical form or characteristic; and 31 (ii) staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect
01 the public; 02 (B) [; "PUBLIC RECORDS"] does not include 03 (i) proprietary software programs; 04 (ii) library and museum material developed or 05 acquired and preserved solely for reference, historical, or 06 exhibition purposes; 07 (iii) extra copies of documents preserved solely for 08 convenience of reference; 09 (iv) stocks of publications and processed documents; 10 or 11 (v) material that is available for public inspection 12 during state business hours in an agency's office or in a public 13 library, including unrestricted records in the custody of the state 14 archivist or the state recorder, records relating to a public agency's 15 regularly conducted activities, including adjudicatory activities, 16 that are recorded and open to the public, books in a public library, 17 statutes, published court opinions, published legal opinions, 18 published regulations, magazines, journals, state land plats, 19 published portions of case files maintained by the department of 20 natural resources, unrestricted motor vehicle records, and 21 published treatises;