Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed S 1356, Idaho’s version of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act, on 26 March making Idaho the fifth state in our region, after California, Hawaii, Nevada and Oregon, to enact this uniform law.
Alaska, Utah and Wyoming might be next to introduce UELMA.
More information about UELMA and the states that have enacted versions of the uniform law.
If you find a “law” on The Internet, doesn’t it mean it’s “The Law?” (hahaha)?
Not everything you read on the Internet is accurate. (I know! Hard to believe, but it’s true!)
Make sure the “law” you find online is accurate and know how to correct and update it if necessary.
Oregon’s Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act (UELMA):
1) Oregon’s UELMA is codified at 2013 ORS 192.715 et seq.
2) Session law: Oregon UELMA: Chapter 221, (2013 Laws): Effective date May 23, 2013
There is a rumor that 18 Oregon Tax Reports (2013) may be the last official print edition of the official Oregon Tax Reports.
Oregon Tax Court decisions, from 1999 to the present, can be found online at the OJD website, however, the site includes the following disclaimer: “None of the documents found in this website are the official publications. Official publications of the Oregon Tax Court can be found in the ‘Oregon Tax Reports.‘”
Note: The OJD Appellate Courts Style Manual doesn’t state specifically if one can cite to the Tax Court’s online edition of its opinions.
May 7, 2013, UELMA (Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act) update:
The Judiciary Committee is holding UELMA (HB 2944, Intro) over until Thursday, May 9th, to get some more of their questions answered. (There was a brief hearing on HB 2944 on May 6, 2013.)
UELMA Primer: Authenticating the Law
Hawaii Governor Abercrombie signed UELMA into law on April 11th. It is Act 11 of the 2013 Legislature.
Hawaii is the 5th state to enact UELMA, following North Dakota where it became law last week. Hawaii is the first state to include Judicial information in the law, and it will be a model for other states looking to include court opinions and other Judicial materials.
UELMA is on the Oregon Legislature’s radar this 2013 regular session. Read more about UELMA in Oregon.
Are the state and federal laws you find online authenticated and permanently preserved?
Oregon’s Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (popularly known as UELMA) is moving through the 2013 Legislative Session as HB 2944.
UELMA aims to ensure preservation of and permanent public access to official electronic legal documents. Oregon’s UELMA does not include court decisions, unlike the uniform law.
If you research the law online, you need to have authenticated, official laws – yes, you do!
There is no point relying on statutes, cases, regulations, and other government legal documents that aren’t correct, aren’t from the year(s) you need, and are missing the source’s official imprimatur.
Most online laws have Disclaimers that advise and warn you to verify what you read online with official, legal text.
On September 13th, 2012, California Governor Brown signed SB1075 into law, enacting the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act in California (UELMA).
From Law Librarian listserv:
“SB1075 provides that the California Constitution, the state statutes, and the California codes will be authentic and permanently available online to the citizens of California. The bill, sponsored by the Senate Committee on Rules, leaves open the option to include additional categories of material through amendment and it establishes that the Legislative Counsel Bureau is the official publisher.
If that beautifully presented meal you gaze upon was in fact prepared by unwashed hands, harbors e-coli, was cooked 3 days ago and never refrigerated, and has been licked by the cook’s cat, dog, and ferret, would you eat it?
Would you pay good money for original artwork, without guarantees of originality, papers of provenance, and proof of seller’s ownership?
Why then would you risk your life, liberty, property, and family by relying on “law” that might not really be “the law?”
Oregon Legal Research Blog