Electronic Mail Public Record Clarification Amendment Act of 2007 
Bill 17-490

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A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Councilmember Carol Schwartz, Chairman Vincent Gray and Councilmembers Cheh, Mendelson, Brown, Bowser, Evans, Thomas, Graham and Barry introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on __________________.

To amend the District of Columbia Public Records Management Act of 1985 to clarify that a public record includes various forms of electronic records, and that the medium upon which information is recorded does not determine whether the record is a public record, to provide that the District’s electronic mail retention schedule shall conform with the District of Columbia’s General Records Schedules, to provide that a record authorized to be disposed of by the Records Disposition Committee shall not be effective until 45 days after publication in the District of Columbia Register; to amend the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act of 1999, D.C. Official Code Section 28-4916, to require that the retention of electronic records conform to the District of Columbia Public Records Management Act of 1985, and to provide that any rules promulgated pursuant to this act be submitted to the Council for a 45-day period of review.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the “Electronic Mail Public Record Clarification Amendment Act of 2007”.

Sec. 2. The District of Columbia Public Records Management Act of 1985, effective September 5, 1985 (D.C. Law 6-19; D.C. Official Code § 2-1701 et seq.), is amended as follows:

(a) Section 2(13) (D.C. Official Code § 2-1701(13)) is amended to read as follows:

“(13) “Public record” means any document, book, photographic image, electronic data recording, electronic mail, paper, video recording, sound recording, microfilm, computer disk, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristic, that documents a transaction or activity made, received, or retained pursuant to law or in connection with the transaction of public business by or with any officer or employee of the District. The medium upon which such information is recorded shall have no bearing on the determination of whether the record is a public record.”.

(b) Section 7 (D.C. Official Code § 2-1706) is amended as follows:

(1) Subsection (a)(2)(A) is amended by striking the phrase “Committee.” and inserting the phrase “Committee; provided that an authorization approved by the Committee shall not be effective until 45 days after publication in the District of Columbia Register.”.

(2) A new subsection (a-1) is added to read as follows:

“(a-1) The electronic mail retention policy shall conform to the District of Columbia General Records Schedules established under this act.”. 

(c) Section 3(e) (D.C. Official Code § 2-1702(e)) is amended by adding 2 new sentences at the end to read as follows:

“The Mayor shall submit the proposed rules and regulations to the Council for a 45-day period of review, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and days of Council recess. If the Council does not approve the proposed rules within the 45-day period, the proposed rules shall be deemed disapproved.”.

Sec. 3. Section 28-4916 of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended to read as follows:

“The Mayor shall determine whether, and the extent to which, a governmental agency will create electronic records and convert written records to electronic records. The retention of electronic records shall conform to the requirements and practices established under Chapter 2 of Title 17 of the District of Columbia Official Code.”.

Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement.

The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(3)).

Sec. 5. Effective date.

This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.