2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 24 - GOVERNMENT - STATE (§§ 24-1-101 — 24-116-102) › ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS (§§ 24-71-101 — 24-71.7-101) › Article 71.5 - Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (§§ 24-71.5-101 — 24-71.5-112) › Section 24-71.5-102 - Definitions

In this article:
(1)
"Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(2)
"Legal material" means, whether or not in effect:
(a)
The constitution of this state;
(b)
The session laws of Colorado;
(c)
The Colorado Revised Statutes; and
(d)
A state agency rule promulgated in accordance with article
4
of this title.
(3)
"Official publisher" means:
(a)
For the constitution of this state, the general assembly;
(b)
For the session laws of Colorado, the general assembly;
(c)
For the Colorado Revised Statutes, the general assembly; and
(d)
For a rule published in the code of Colorado regulations, the secretary of state.
(4)
"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.
(5)
"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.
(6)
"State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
L. 2012: Entire article added, (HB 12-1209), ch. 138, p. 501, § 1, effective August 8.
OFFICIAL COMMENT
Several definitions used in this act are standard in Conference acts, including "electronic," "record," and "state." These words, so defined, have been used in other acts promulgated by the Conference, including notably the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which has been adopted by 47 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as of March 2011. (The definition of "state" in UETA includes a second sentence regarding Indian tribes and Alaskan villages that is not part of this act's definition.) The use of these terms in the same manner in several acts leads to a consistency within the laws of each state adopting the several acts, in addition to the sought-after uniformity among states.
Legal material.
(Section 2(2)). The definition of "legal material" is intentionally narrow. As drafted, it includes only the most basic state-level legal documents: the state constitution, session laws, codified laws, and administrative rules with the effect of law. The act suggests as alternatives a range of additional legal material.
Among the additional legal material suggested for inclusion is state administrative agency decisions. An enacting state may choose to include those administrative agency decisions that are treated in that state as having the effect of law, for example, or the state may choose to include or exclude certain agency decisions in the act's coverage, in which situation the decisions should be listed with specificity. Each enacting state is given discretion to determine which, if any, of its administrative agency decisions should be covered by the act.
In some states, the publication of judicial decisions and court rules is handled by the judicial branch, over which the state legislature may have no authority to mandate specific procedures such as those created by this act. Because of this potential separation of powers issue, judicial decisions and court rules are included in this act as an alternative in the definition of legal material. If an enacting state includes judicial decisions or court rules, some differentiation between legal material issued by the state's various courts (i.e. trial courts of various types, appellate courts, and supreme court) may be necessary.
Enacting states may decide to expand the definition of legal material beyond that offered as alternatives. For example, in some states, an initiative or referendum process may result in the creation of statutory law outside of, or in addition to, the legislative process. An enacting state may choose to include in the definition of legal material the various documents created in an initiative or referendum process, including especially the final, uncodified form (similar to a session law) as passed by popular vote. States may decide to include enacted, but subsequently vetoed, legislation. Other states may decide to include certain categories of municipal or county legal material in the act. The definition of legal material is left to the discretion of the enacting state, beyond the four categories of basic state-level legal material defined in this Section.
Many important sources of law, such as legislative journals and calendars, reports of legislative confirmations and other hearings, versions of bills, gubernatorial orders and proclamations, attorney general opinions, and many agency publications, might be included in the act's coverage under the discretionary section 2 (2)(H). Whether a state legislature can include in the act the records from certain executive branch officials (executive orders and proclamations, or attorney general opinions, for example) raises a separation of powers issue similar to that regarding judicial decisions.
If additional legal material is added to Section 2(2), a corresponding addition must be made to Section 2(3) that identifies an official publisher for the legal material.
Official publisher.
(Section 2(3)). The state must designate an official publisher for each type of legal material defined in Section 2(2). This can, and most likely will, be an existing state agency, officer, or employee that already has responsibility for the publication of the legal material. The official publisher is the state actor charged with carrying out the provisions of this act.
To complete the definition of official publisher, an appropriate government agency or employee for each type of legal material must be identified, as indicated by bracketed language. Because the legal material may come from different departments, and even different branches, of government, the official publisher may be one employee or agency, or several.
This act only applies to legal material published by the official publisher designated in this Section. Many states contract with commercial printers or publishers for the production of their legal material, and under this act states can continue to contract out the production of their legal material as desired. The act does not interfere with the contractual relationship between the state and the commercial publisher. However, a commercial publisher cannot serve as official publisher of legal material for the purposes of this act.