HOUSE BILL 367

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Brian F. Egolf

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS; REQUIRING THE STATE COMMISSION OF PUBLIC RECORDS TO ADOPT REGULATIONS LIMITING THE CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC RECORDS IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. Section 2-3-14.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1985, Chapter 19, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "2-3-14.1. STATE AGENCIES--REPORTS.--

          A. No state agency shall submit or send to the members of the legislature any material, other than proposed legislation, in excess of five pages, and no state agency shall send any material to members of the public, public employees or governmental entities unless the material is in electronic form or is specifically requested by the recipient, nor shall the material be published by printing for distribution. A violation of the prohibition against sending materials to the legislature shall result in a ten percent reduction in the salary of the cabinet secretary or division director responsible.

          B. Nothing in this section shall limit the response of any agency to a direct request of a legislator or group of legislators [nor] or the submission of the executive budget.

          C. All reports to the legislature by a state agency shall be filed in duplicate with the legislative council service, and such reports shall not be subject to the page limitations of this section. Prior to each regular legislative session, the legislative council service shall compile a list of the reports submitted [prior to each regular legislative session] since the beginning of the previous regular session, listing the title and agency [and]. The legislative council service shall distribute the list [among the] to legislators during the first week of the session.

          D. Any legislator may request any report, including those listed pursuant to Subsection C of this section. Upon such a request, the state agency shall furnish the report to the legislator, in electronic format if approved by the requesting legislator and pursuant to regulations of the state commission of public records.

          E. Compliance by a state agency with Subsection C of this section shall fulfill any requirement of a state agency to report to the legislature, unless the requirement is specifically exempted from the requirements of this section.

          F. No state agency shall submit material bound other than by staples unless the bulk or other qualities of the material require other bindings; provided that, in all cases, the most economical method of binding and packaging shall be used.

          G. For the purposes of this section, "state agency" means any agency, division or instrumentality of the state but does not include political subdivisions and educational institutions or any of the legislature's [divsions] divisions, instrumentalities or committees."

     Section 2. Section 14-3-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1959, Chapter 245, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "14-3-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public Records Act:

          A. "administrator" means the state records administrator;

          B. "agency" means any state agency, department, bureau, board, commission, institution or other organization of the state government, the territorial government and the Spanish and Mexican governments in New Mexico;

          C. "commission" means the state commission of public records;

          D. "microphotography" means the transfer of images onto film and electronic imaging or other information storage techniques that meet the performance guidelines for legal acceptance of public records produced by information system technologies pursuant to regulations adopted by the commission;

          E. "microphotography system" means all microphotography equipment, services and supplies;

          F. "personal identification information" means the name; social security number; military identification number; home address; telephone number; email address; fingerprint; photograph; identifying biometric data; genetic identification; personal financial account number; state identification number, including driver's license number; alien registration number; government passport number; personal taxpayer identification number; or government benefit account number of a natural person;

          G. "public records" means all books, papers, maps, photographs or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including electronic format public records pursuant to regulations of the commission, made or received by any agency in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved, or appropriate for preservation, by the agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the government or because of the informational and historical value of data contained therein. Library or museum material of the state library, state institutions and state museums, extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of reference and stocks of publications and processed documents are not included;

          H. "records center" means the central records depository that is the principal state facility for the storage, disposal, allocation or use of noncurrent records of agencies or materials obtained from other sources;

          I. "records custodian" means the statutory head of the agency using or maintaining the records or the custodian's designee; and

          J. "records retention and disposition schedules" means rules adopted by the commission pursuant to Section 14-3-6 NMSA 1978 describing records of an agency, establishing a timetable for their life cycle and providing authorization for their disposition."

     Section 3. Section 14-3-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1959, Chapter 245, Section 4) is amended to read:

     "14-3-4. DUTIES AND POWERS OF COMMISSION.--It shall be the duty of the commission to:

          A. employ as state records administrator a competent, experienced person professionally trained as an archivist and records manager who shall serve at the pleasure of the commission. [He] The administrator need not be a resident of New Mexico at the time of [his] employment. [His] The administrator's salary shall be fixed by the commission;

          B. approve the biennial budget covering costs of the operations set forth in [this] the Public Records Act, as prepared by the administrator for presentation to the state legislature;

          C. decide, by majority vote, any disagreements between the administrator and any state officer regarding the disposition of records within the custody of [said] the officer, such decisions to have the effect of law;

          D. consider the recommendations of the administrator for the destruction of specifically reported records and by unanimous vote either order or forbid such destruction;

          E. approve in writing, or reject, the written terms and conditions of each proposed loan of documentary material to the records center, as agreed upon by the lender and the administrator;

          F. adopt and publish rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of the Public Records Act;

          G. request any agency to designate a records liaison officer to cooperate with, assist and advise the administrator in the performance of [his] the administrator's duties and to provide such other assistance and data as will enable the commission and administrator properly to carry out the purposes of the Public Records Act; [and]

          H. prepare an annual report to the governor on the operations conducted under the terms of [this] the Public Records Act during the previous year, including a complete fiscal report on costs and effected savings, and cause [same] the report to be published; and

          I. adopt regulations to minimize the printing of public records by state agencies, boards, commissions and instrumentalities of the state and, except as otherwise required by law and pursuant to Section 2-3-14.1 NMSA 1978, adopt regulations to require public records to be generated and maintained for public access pursuant to the Public Records Act in electronic format on the internet. Materials published by the economic development, public education, higher education, tourism and cultural affairs departments that are bona fide marketing or educational materials are exempted from the provisions of this subsection. For any materials that are printed under this exemption, the secretary of the department, the division director or the chair of the board or commission shall certify in writing to the administrator that the materials are necessary for bona fide marketing or educational purposes."

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