Title 10. Governmental Procedures — Subtitle 16. Maryland Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act

In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.

“Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

“Legal material” means, whether or not in effect, the following:

“Official publisher” means:

“Publish” means to display, present, or release to the public, or cause to be displayed, presented, or released to the public, by the official publisher.

“Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

“Unit” means an executive agency, a department, a board, a commission, or any other instrumentality of the State.

designated as official under § 10–1603 of this subtitle; and

first published electronically on or after October 1, 2017.

If an official publisher publishes legal material only in an electronic record, the official publisher shall:

An official publisher that publishes legal material in an electronic record and in a record other than an electronic record may designate the electronic record as official if the publisher complies with §§ 10–1604, 10–1606, and 10–1607 of this subtitle.

An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official under § 10–1603 of this subtitle shall authenticate the electronic record.

To authenticate an electronic record under subsection (a) of this section, the official publisher shall provide a method for a user to determine that the electronic record received by the user from the official publisher is unaltered from the official electronic record published by the official publisher.

Legal material in an electronic record that is authenticated under § 10–1604 of this subtitle is presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.

If another state has adopted a law substantially similar to this subtitle, legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official and authenticated by the official publisher in that state is presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.

A party contesting the authentication of legal material in an electronic record authenticated under § 10–1604 of this subtitle has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the record is not authentic.

An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is or was designated as official under § 10–1603 of this subtitle shall provide for the preservation and security of the record in an electronic form or a form that is not electronic.

If legal material is preserved under subsection (a) of this section in an electronic record, the official publisher shall:

standards and practices of other jurisdictions;

the most recent standards regarding the authentication of, preservation and security of, and public access to legal material in an electronic record and other electronic records, as adopted by national standard–setting bodies;

the needs of users of legal material in an electronic record;

the view of governmental officials and entities and other interested persons; and

to the extent practicable, methods and technologies for the authentication of, preservation and security of, and public access to legal material that are compatible with methods and technologies used by other official publishers in the State and in other states that have adopted a law substantially similar to this subtitle.

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this subtitle modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.

This subtitle does not: