H-1291              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1680

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Representatives Rector, Phillips, Raiter and H. Myers

Read first time 2/1/89 and referred to Committee on Judiciary. Referred 2/8/89 to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

AN ACT Relating to the uniform preservation of private business records; and creating a new chapter in Title 40 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

          "Business" includes every kind of private business, profession, occupation, calling or operation of private institutions, whether carried on for profit or not for profit.

          "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or any other association.

          "Records" means letters, words, sounds, or numbers, or their equivalent, set down by handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, magnetic impulse, mechanical or electronic recording, or other form of data compilation regardless of physical form or characteristics.  Unless otherwise specified in the law, reproductions are records for purposes of this chapter.

          "Reproduction" means any counterpart produced by the same impression as the original or from the same matrix, or by means of photography, including enlargements and miniatures, or by mechanical or electronic rerecording, or by chemical reproduction, or by any equivalent technique which accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for so reproducing the original.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Business records which are required by law to be created or kept or preserved, may be destroyed after the expiration of three years from the making of such records without constituting an offense under such laws.  State law or regulation may specify that records may be destroyed prior to three years or must be kept longer than three years if the longer period is necessary to satisfy statutory requirements or to meet other substantial need.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     Retention of reproductions produced under the laws of this state constitute compliance with any laws of this state requiring that records be created or kept.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     This chapter shall apply to records prepared by private individuals, partnerships, corporations, or any other association, whether carried on for profit or not for profit.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     This chapter applies to all records created before and after the effective date of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     Sections 1 through 5 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 40 RCW.