FINAL BILL REPORT

                  HB 2377

                          C 19 L 94

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Including optical imaging reproductions as business record copies admissible as evidence.

By Representatives Appelwick, Johanson, Padden, H. Myers, Ballasiotes, Tate, Scott and Anderson.

House Committee on Judiciary

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

Background:  Washington has adopted the "Uniform Photographic Copies of Business and Public Records as Evidence Act."  This law was last amended in 1959.  It provides that certain copies of business or government records are admissible as evidence in a court proceeding to the same extent as are the original records.  The act requires that a copy be accurate and durable.  Copies that are expressly allowed under this act include "photographic, photostatic, microfilm, microcard, miniature photographic" and other accurate and durable copies.

Copying technology has made significant changes since 1959.  Although the current law generally allows any accurate and durable copy to be used as evidence, the law does not explicitly include more modern technologies such as optical imaging.

Optical imaging is increasingly used as a method of records storage.  For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission has recently specifically authorized brokers to maintain records on optical disk storage.

Summary:  The Uniform Photographic Copies of Business and Public Records as Evidence Act is amended to explicitly allow the use of optical imaging as a way of producing copies admissible as evidence.

Votes on Final Passage:

House  91 0

Senate 47 0

Effective:  June 9, 1994