Online and authentic?

• Author: Greenberg, Pam
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS

Are the state statutes or bills you find online trustworthy, authentic or official? Printed versions of legislative documents are still the official version in most states. But digital versions of statutes, administrative rules and other legal and legislative documents are gaining broad use in the legal and legislative community, and in some cases, may be the only version.

To address concerns about online-only legal resources, the Uniform Law Commission (also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws) in July 2011 approved the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act. It provides guidelines for states on how to manage electronic government information in a way that guarantees trustworthiness and continued access.

The act requires that official electronic legal material be:

* Authenticated, by providing a method to determine that it is unaltered.

* Preserved, either in electronic or print form.

* Accessible, for use by the public on a permanent basis.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

State lawmakers interested in introducing the legislation may choose which categories of legal material will be covered. The model legislation does not promote any specific technology, uses flexible language, and has alternative provisions to...