TITLE 13.CULTURAL RESOURCES

Part 1. TEXAS STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES COMMISSION

Chapter 6. STATE RECORDS

Subchapter C. STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

13 TAC §6.97

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission adopts new §6.97, relating to the management of electronic transactions and signed records under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), without changes to the proposed text as published in the December 13, 2002, issue of the Texas Register (27 TexReg 11681) and will not be republished.

UETA became effective in Texas on January 1, 2002, and is codified at the Business and Commerce Code, Chapter 43.The Business & Commerce Code, §43.017 requires each state agency to determine whether, and the extent to which, it will send and accept electronic records and electronic signatures to and from other persons and otherwise create, generate, communicate, store, process, use, and rely upon electronic records and electronic signatures. UETA provides that the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and the Department of Information Resources may adopt rules concerning (1) the manner and format in which the electronic records must be created, generated, sent, communicated, received, and stored and the systems established for those purposes; (2) if electronic records must be signed by electronic means, the type of electronic signature required, the manner and format in which the electronic signature must be affixed in the electronic record, and the identity of, or criteria that must be met by, any third party used by a person filing a document to facilitate the process; (3) control processes and procedures as appropriate to ensure adequate preservation, disposition, integrity, security, confidentiality, and auditability of electronic records; and (4) any other required attributes for electronic records which are specified for corresponding non-electronic records or reasonably necessary under the circumstances. New §6.97 establishes guidelines for the management of electronic transactions and signed records that must be followed by state agencies that send and accept electronic records and electronic signatures or otherwise create, generate, communicate, store, process, use, and rely upon electronic records and electronic signatures. The guide is available at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/slrm/recordspubs/index.html#ueta. The Guidelines for the Management of Electronic Transactions and Signed Records was published in the December 13, 2002, issue of the Texas Register (27 TexReg 11800) and will not be republished.

Use of the guidelines will help ensure the preservation of the electronic transactions and electronic signatures in a form that safeguards their authenticity, reliability, integrity, and trustworthiness. Use of the guidelines should also create greater public confidence in the reliability of electronic state agency records.

No comments were received regarding adoption of the new section.

The new section is adopted pursuant to the Government Code, §§441.189 and 441.199, which provide that the commission may adopt rules regarding the management and preservation of state records, including electronic state records, and the Business and Commerce Code, §43.017, which provides that the commission may adopt rules under UETA.

This agency hereby certifies that the adoption has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal authority.

Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on February 20, 2003.

TRD-200301279

Edward Seidenberg

Assistant State Librarian

Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Effective date: March 12, 2003

Proposal publication date: December 13, 2002

For further information, please call: (512) 463-5459