Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2603.1 – Electronic applications for all warrants; signatures; electronic judicial records
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2603.1
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2602
- Electronic record: means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2602
- Electronic signature: means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2602
- Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
- 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. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2602
- State: means this state or another 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. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2602
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
A. An application for any warrant or signature utilized by the judicial branch of state government shall not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. Any such application, signature or record in electronic form shall have the full effect of law.
B. If a law requires the application for any warrant to be in writing, an electronic record shall satisfy the law.
C. If a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law.
D. Any application used to attach a digital signature to any warrant or affidavit must have security procedures in place that insure the authenticity of the digital signature. The application must also be able to keep an electronic record of the warrant or affidavit, including the time and date of when the signature was attached. The application must also include encryption measures to ensure secure access of the application.
E. Unless otherwise agreed to by a sender of a warrant application and the judiciary, an electronic record is received when:
(1) The record enters an information-processing system that the local court rules have designated and approved for the purpose of receiving electronic applications for warrants and from which the recipient is able to retrieve the electronic record.
(2) It is in a form capable of being processed by the system.
F. In any instance where an affidavit is submitted to a judge or magistrate electronically, the electronic signature of the affiant shall satisfy the constitutional requirement that the testimony of the affiant be made under oath, provided that such signature is made under penalty of perjury and in compliance with Subsection D of this Section. If the requirements of Subsection D of this Section are met, it shall not be necessary for the oath to be made orally for the affidavit to have legal effect.
Acts 2009, No. 401, §1; Acts 2010, No. 58, §1.