Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                         CHAPTER 71-S.F.No. 431 
           An act relating to public administration; providing 
          that government records may be stored on optical 
          imaging systems and retained in that format only; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 15.17, 
          subdivision 1; and 138.17, by adding a subdivision. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 15.17, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [MUST BE KEPT.] All officers and agencies 
of the state, counties, cities, towns, school districts, 
municipal subdivisions or corporations, or other public 
authorities or political entities within the state, hereinafter 
"public officer," shall make and preserve all records necessary 
to a full and accurate knowledge of their official activities.  
All government records shall be made on a physical medium of a 
quality to insure permanent records.  Every public officer is 
empowered to reproduce records if the records are not deemed to 
be of permanent or archival value by the commissioner of 
administration and the records disposition panel under section 
138.17.  The public officer is empowered to reproduce these 
records by any photographic, photostatic, microphotographic, 
optical disk imaging system, microfilming, or other reproduction 
method that clearly and accurately reproduces the records.  If a 
record is deemed to be of permanent or archival value, any 
reproduction of the record must meet archival standards 
specified by the Minnesota historical society provided, however, 
that this section does not prohibit the use of non-erasable 
optical imaging systems for the preservation of archival records 
without the preservation of paper or microfilm copies.  Each 
public officer may order that those photographs, photostats, 
microphotographs, microfilms, optical disk images, or other 
reproductions, be substituted for the originals of them.  The 
public officer may direct the destruction or sale for salvage or 
other disposition of the originals from which they were made, in 
accordance with the disposition requirements of section 138.17.  
Photographs, photostats, microphotographs, microfilms, optical 
disk images, or other reproductions are for all purposes deemed 
the original recording of the papers, books, documents, and 
records reproduced when so ordered by any public officer and are 
admissible as evidence in all courts and proceedings of every 
kind.  A facsimile or exemplified or certified copy of a 
photograph, photostat, microphotograph, microfilm, optical disk 
image, or other reproduction, or an enlargement or reduction of 
it, has the same effect and weight as evidence as would a 
certified or exemplified copy of the original. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 138.17, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 10.  [OPTICAL IMAGE STORAGE.] (a) Any government 
record, including a record with archival value, may be 
transferred to and stored on a non-erasable optical imaging 
system and retained only in that format, if the requirements of 
this section are met. 
    (b) All documents preserved on non-erasable optical imaging 
systems must meet standards for permanent records specified in 
section 15.17, subdivision 1, and must be kept available for 
retrieval so long as any law requires.  Standards under section 
15.17, subdivision 1, may not be inconsistent with efficient use 
of optical imaging systems. 
    (c) A government entity storing a record on an optical 
imaging system shall create and store a backup copy of the 
record at a site other than the site where the original is 
kept.  The government entity shall retain the backup copy and 
operable retrieval equipment so long as any law requires the 
original to be retained.  The backup copy required by this 
paragraph must be preserved either (1) on a non-erasable optical 
imaging system; or (2) by another reproduction method approved 
by the records disposition panel. 
      (d) All contracts for the purchase of optical imaging 
systems used pursuant to this chapter shall contain terms that 
insure continued retrievability of the optically stored images 
and conform to any guidelines that may be established by the 
information policy office of the department of administration 
for perpetuation of access to stored data. 
    Presented to the governor April 30, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 3, 1993, 4:31 p.m.