A. In cooperation with the head of each agency, The Library of Virginia shall establish and maintain a program for the selection and preservation of essential public records. The program shall provide for preserving, classifying, arranging, and indexing essential public records so that such records are made available to the public. The program shall provide for making recovery copies or designate as recovery copies existing copies of such essential public records.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 42.1-86

  • Agency: means all boards, commissions, departments, divisions, institutions, and authorities, and parts thereof, of the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions and includes the offices of constitutional officers. See Virginia Code 42.1-77
  • Board: means the State Library Board. See Virginia Code 42.1-77
  • Disaster plan: means the information maintained by an agency that outlines recovery techniques and methods to be followed in case of an emergency that impacts the agency's records. See Virginia Code 42.1-77
  • Electronic record: means a public record whose creation, storage, and access require the use of an automated system or device. See Virginia Code 42.1-77
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Original record: means the first generation of the information and is the preferred version of a record. See Virginia Code 42.1-77
  • Preservation: means the processes and operations involved in ensuring the technical and intellectual survival of authentic records through time. See Virginia Code 42.1-77
  • Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
  • record: means recorded information that documents a transaction or activity by or with any public officer, agency, or employee of an agency. See Virginia Code 42.1-77
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245

B. Recovery copies shall meet quality standards established by The Library of Virginia and shall be made by a process that accurately reproduces the record and forms a durable medium. A recovery copy may also be made by creating a paper or electronic copy of an original electronic record. Recovery copies shall have the same force and effect for all purposes as the original record and shall be as admissible in evidence as the original record whether the original record is in existence or not. Recovery copies shall be preserved in the place and manner prescribed by the State Library Board and the Governor.

C. The Library of Virginia shall develop a plan to ensure preservation of public records in the event of disaster or emergency as defined in § 44-146.16. This plan shall be coordinated with the Department of Emergency Management and copies shall be distributed to all agency heads. The plan shall be reviewed and updated at least once every five years. The personnel of the Library shall be responsible for coordinating emergency recovery operations when public records are affected. Each agency shall ensure that a plan for the protection and recovery of public records is included in its comprehensive disaster plan.

1976, c. 746; 1980, c. 365; 1990, c. 778; 1994, c. 64; 1998, c. 427; 2005, c. 787; 2006, c. 60.

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