Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H4/1/25
2 95th General Assembly
A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1739
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5 By: Representative M. Brown
6 By: Senator Dees
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8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM ELECTRONIC LEGAL
10 MATERIALS ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
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13 Subtitle
14 TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM ELECTRONIC LEGAL
15 MATERIALS ACT.
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17 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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19 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 25, is amended to add an additional
20 chapter to read as follows:
21
22 CHAPTER 44
23 UNIFORM ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIALS ACT
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25 25-44-101. Short title.
26 This act may be cited as the "Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act".
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28 25-44-102. Definitions.
29 In this act:
30 (1) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical,
31 digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar
32 capabilities;
33 (2)(A) "Legal material" means, whether or not in effect:
34 (i) The Arkansas Constitution;
35 (ii) The Arkansas Code;
36 (iii) The Code of Arkansas Rules; or
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1 (iv) A state agency rule that has or had the effect
2 of law.
3 (B) "Legal material" does not mean material published by
4 the Arkansas judiciary, including without limitation the Administrative
5 Office of the Courts, including without limitation:
6 (i) A reported decision of the Supreme Court, the
7 Court of Appeals, a circuit court, or a district court; or
8 (ii) A state judicial rule.
9 (3) "Official publisher" means:
10 (A) The Arkansas Code Revision Commission for the Arkansas
11 Code;
12 (B) The Bureau of Legislative Research for the Code of
13 Arkansas Rules; and
14 (C) The Secretary of State for:
15 (i) The Arkansas Constitution; or
16 (ii) A state agency rule that has the effect of law.
17 (4) "Publish" means to display, present, or release to the public, or
18 cause to be displayed, presented, or released to the public, by the official
19 publisher;
20 (5) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible
21 medium that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in
22 perceivable form; and
23 (6) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of
24 Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or
25 insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
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27 25-44-103. Applicability.
28 This act applies to all legal material in an electronic record that is:
29 (1) Designated as official under � 25-44-104; and
30 (2) First published electronically on or after the effective
31 date of this act.
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33 25-44-104. Legal material in an official electronic record.
34 (a) If an official publisher publishes legal material only in an
35 electronic record, the publisher shall:
36 (1) Designate the electronic record as official; and
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1 (2) Comply with �� 25-44-105 -- 25-44-107.
2 (b) An official publisher that publishes legal material in an
3 electronic record and also publishes the material in a record other than an
4 electronic record may designate the electronic record as official if the
5 publisher complies with �� 25-44-105 -- 25-44-107.
6
7 25-44-105. Authentication of an official electronic record.
8 (a) An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record
9 designated as official under � 25-44-104 shall authenticate the record.
10 (b) To authenticate an electronic record, the publisher shall provide
11 a method for a user to determine that the record received by the user from
12 the publisher is unaltered from the official record published by the
13 publisher.
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15 25-44-106. Effect of authentication.
16 (a) Legal material in an electronic record that is authenticated under
17 � 25-44-105 is presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.
18 (b) If another state has adopted a law substantially similar to this
19 act, legal material in an electronic record that is designated as official
20 and authenticated by the official publisher in that state is presumed to be
21 an accurate copy of the legal material.
22 (c) A party contesting the authentication of legal material in an
23 electronic record authenticated under � 25-44-105 has the burden of proving
24 by a preponderance of the evidence that the record is not authentic.
25
26 25-44-107. Preservation and security of legal material in official
27 electronic record.
28 (a) An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record
29 that is or was designated as official under � 25-44-104 shall provide for the
30 preservation and security of the record in an electronic form or a form that
31 is not electronic.
32 (b) If legal material is preserved under subsection (a) in an
33 electronic record, the official publisher shall:
34 (1) Ensure the integrity of the record;
35 (2) Provide for backup and disaster recovery of the record; and
36 (3) Ensure the continued usability of the record.
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2 25-44-108. Public access to legal material in official electronic
3 record.
4 An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is
5 required to be preserved under � 25-44-107 shall ensure that the material is
6 reasonably available for use by the public on a permanent basis.
7
8 25-44-109. Standards.
9 In implementing this act, an official publisher of legal material in an
10 electronic record shall consider:
11 (1) Standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
12 (2) The most recent standards regarding authentication of,
13 preservation and security of, and public access to, legal material in an
14 electronic record and other electronic records, as promulgated by national
15 standard-setting bodies;
16 (3) The needs of users of legal material in an electronic
17 record;
18 (4) The views of governmental officials and entities and other
19 interested persons; and
20 (5) To the extent practicable, methods and technologies for the
21 authentication of, preservation and security of, and public access to, legal
22 material that are compatible with the methods and technologies used by other
23 official publishers in this state and in other states that have adopted a law
24 substantially similar to this act.
25
26 25-44-110. Uniformity of application and construction.
27 In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration shall be
28 given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its
29 subject matter among states that enact it.
30
31 25-44-111. Relation to Electronic Signatures in the Global and
32 National Commerce Act.
33 This act modifies, limits, and supersedes the Electronic Signatures in
34 Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. � 7001 et seq., as it existed on
35 January 1, 2025, but does not:
36 (1) Modify, limit, or supersede Section 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C.
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1 � 7001(c), as it existed on January 1, 2025; or
2 (2) Authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in
3 Section 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. � 7003(b), as it existed on January 1,
4 2025.
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6 25-44-112. Effective date.
7 This act is effective on and after January 1, 2026.
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9 /s/M. Brown
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5 04-01-2025 14:29:46 LGL059Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.