13 TAC §51.1, §51.3
The Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council proposes
new §51.1 and §51.3, concerning authentication of governmental
electronic records. The Council first proposed these sections in the July
26, 1996,
Texas Register
(21 TexReg 6931).
The Council withdraws that proposal and submits a revised draft of the §51.1
which includes the judiciary in the definition for Government Body.
The new rules are proposed under the authority of the Texas Government
Code,§441.053(g). The rules will establish standards for government
bodies to authenticate on-line electronic documents obtained from an official
source or by means of digital signature.
Robert S. Martin, Chairman of the Council, has determined that for each
year of the first five years the rules are in effect there will be no fiscal
implications for state and local government as a result of enforcing or administering
the rules.
Dr. Martin also has determined that for each year of the first five years
the rules as proposed are in effect, the public will benefit from government
records being made more readily available in electronic form with assurance
that the records are identical to the original source. There will be no effect
on small businesses. There is no anticipated economic cost to persons required
to comply with the rules as proposed.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Robert S. Martin, Chairman
of the Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council, Texas State Library,
P.O. Box 12927 Austin, Texas, 78711-2927, within 30 days of publication in
the
Texas Register
.
The rules are proposed under the Texas Government Code, §441.053,
which provides the Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council with
the authority to adopt rules to improve the state's management of records.
The Texas Government Code, §441.053(g) is affected by the proposed
rules.
§51.1.Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have
the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Electronic Format
- Information accessible by a computer.
Electronic Public Information
- Any public information as
defined in the Public Information Act, Government Code, §552.002, that
is stored or transmitted in any electronic format.
Governmental Body
- A board, commission, department, committee,
institution, agency, or office that is within or is created by the executive
or legislative branch of state government and that is directed by one or
more elected or appointed members;
(A)
a county commissioners court in the state;
(B)
a municipal governing body in the state;
(C)
a deliberative body that has rulemaking or quasi-judicial
power and that is classified as a department, agency, or political subdivision
of a county or municipality;
(D)
a school district board of trustees;
(E)
a county board of education;
(F)
the governing board of a special district;
(G)
the governing body of a nonprofit corporation organized
under Chapter 76, Acts of the 43rd Legislature, 1st Called Session (Article
1434a Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), that provide a water supply or wastewater
service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem taxation under §11.30,
Tax Code;
(H)
the part, section, or portion of an organization,
corporation, commission, committee, institution or agency that spends or
that is supported in whole or in part by public funds of the state or of
a governmental subdivision of the state; and
(I)
the judiciary.
On-line
- Accessible via a computer, a computer network such
as the internet, or via a dial-in bulletin board system using a computer
or computer terminal.
§51.3.Authentication of On-line Electronic Public Information.
(a)
Electronic public information will be considered authentic
when:
(1)
it is on-line and meets the following requirements:
(A)
it is obtained directly from an electronic source that
a governmental body has declared to be an official source of on-line electronic
public information for that governmental body, and
(B)
the public information includes the statement, "This document
can only be presumed to be authentic if it is in its original electronic
format and only if obtained from an official source of the originating governmental
body;" or
(2)
it is digitally signed and obtained as follows:
(A)
it is in an electronic format with digital signature appended
and
(B)
the digital signature meets the requirements of administrative
rules of the Department of Resources, and
(C)
the digital signature is the official signature of a governmental
body as defined by administrative rules of the Department of Information
Resources.
(b)
Government bodies will notify the Texas State Library and
Archives Commission each time they designate an official source of on-line
electronic public information.
(c)
Subsection (a)(2) of this section will be valid only when
the Department of Information Resources has adopted administrative rules
to implement this section.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Issued in Austin, Texas, on January 7, 1997.
TRD-9700187
Robert S .Martin
Chairman
Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council
Earliest possible date of adoption: February 17, 1997
For further information, please call: (512) 463-5460