It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "State Affairs and Government" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
{ADD CHAPTER 127
DIGITAL SIGNATURES ADD}
{ADD 42-127-1. Title. -- ADD} {ADD This act shall be known and may be cited as the Rhode Islnad Electronic Signatures and Records Act. ADD}
{ADD 42-127-2. Purpose. -- ADD} {ADD The provisions of this act shall be construed to promote electronic commerce and on-line government, and to ensure the security and reliability of electronic communications and records. ADD}
{ADD 42-127-3. Definitions. -- ADD} {ADD As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Electronic signatures" means an electronic identifier, created by a computer, and intended by the party using it to have the same force and effect as the use of a manual signature.
(b) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. The term "record" includes both electronic records and written records. ADD}
{ADD 42-127-4. Electronic signatures. -- ADD} {ADD (a) In any written communication among state departments and/or public agencies, and between individuals and entities engaged in transactions or communicatins with the state as defined in this title, in which a signature is required or used, any party to the communication may affix a signature by use of an electronic signature that complies with the requirements of this section.
(b) Nothing in this section shall require state departments and/or public agencies to use or permit the use of an electronic signature.
(c) Where any rule of law requires a signature, or provides for certain consequences in the absence of a signature, that rule is satisfied by an electronic signature. In assessing whether an electronic signature was executed or adopted with respect to a record by a particular person, the trier of fact may consider any relevant information or circumstances, including whether the signature is unique to the signer, unauthorized persons had the opportunity to create the signature, the signature is capable of verification, the signature is invalidated if the record is altered, and the reliability of the method used to create, store, and communicate the signature was appropriate for the purposes for which it was created.
(d) Where any rule of law requires a signature to be notarized or acknowledged for filing with any department, agency, board, authority, commission or other instrumentality of the state that rule is satisfied by an electronic signature that meets the standards established and promulgated by the office of the secretary of state.
(e) This section shall not apply when its application would involve a construction of a rule or law that is clearly inconsistent with the manifest intent of the law making body or is repugnant to the context of the same rule or law, provided that the mere requirement of a "signature" or that a record be "signed" shall not itself be sufficient to establish such intent. ADD}
{ADD 42-127-5. Electronic records. -- ADD} {ADD (a) Where the law requires information to be in writing, that requirement is met by a record, including an electronic record.
(b) In any legal proceeding, nothing in the application of the rules of evidence shall apply so as to deny the admissibility of an electronic record into evidence on the sole basis that it is an electronic record or that it has been retrieved in perceivable form from an electronic or other medium. An electronic duplicate of a record or any perceivable reproduction of a record that accurately reproduces the original is admissible to the same extent as the original record unless or in the circumstances that it would be unfair to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original. In assessing the evidentiary weight of an electronic record, the trier of fact may consider any relevant information or circumstances, including the manner in which the record was created, stored, and communicated and the reliability of such processes.
(c) Every agency, department, board, authority, commission or other instrumentality of the state may create and receive electronic records in lieu of written records, and may also convert written records to electronic records. Rules governing the disposition of written records after they have been converted to electronic form shall be established by the office of the secretary of state.
(d) This section shall not apply when its application would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the parties or when its application would involve a construction of a rule or law that is clearly inconsistent with the manifest intent of the lawmaking body or repugnant to the context of the same rule or law, provided that the mere requirement that a record be "in writing" or "written" shall not itself be sufficient to establish such intent. ADD}
{ADD 42-127-6. Severability. -- ADD} {ADD If any provisions of this act, or the applications of such provisions to any person or circumstances are held invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions of this act or the application of such provisions to any person or circumstances other than that as to which it is held invalid or unconstitutional shall not be affected thereby. ADD}
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 1998.
