The Committee on the Judiciary moves to amend the bill on page two, following the enacting section, by striking out the remainder of the bill and inserting in lieu thereof the following language:
ARTICLE 4. UNIFORM REAL PROPERTY ELECTRONIC RECORDING ACT.
§39A-4-1. Short title.
This act may be cited as the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act.
§39A-4-2. Definitions.
In this article:
(a) "Document" means information that is:
(1) Inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form; and
(2) Eligible to be recorded in the land records maintained by the clerk of the county commission, herein after "county clerk" or "clerk".
(b) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities.
(c) "Electronic document" means a document that is received by the county clerk in an electronic form.
(d) "Electronic signature" means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document.
(e) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality or any other legal or commercial entity.
(f) "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.
§39A-4-3. Validity of electronic documents.
(a) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a document be an original, be on paper or another tangible medium or be in writing, the requirement is satisfied by an electronic document satisfying the requirements of this article.
(b) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a document be signed, the requirement is satisfied by an electronic signature.
(c) A requirement that a document or a signature associated with a document be notarized, acknowledged, verified, witnessed or made under oath is satisfied if the electronic signature of the person authorized to perform that act, and all other information required to be included, is attached to or logically associated with the document or signature. A physical or electronic image of a stamp, impression or seal need not accompany an electronic signature.
§39A-4-4. Recording of documents.
(a) In this section, "paper document" means a document that is received by the county clerk in a form that is not electronic.
(b) A county clerk:
(1) Who implements any of the functions listed in this section shall do so in compliance with standards established by the Office of Technology;
(2) May receive, index, store, archive and transmit electronic documents;
(3) May provide for access to, and for search and retrieval of, documents and information by electronic means;
(4) Who accepts electronic documents for recording shall continue to accept paper documents as authorized by state law and shall place entries for both types of documents in the same index;
(5) May convert paper documents accepted for recording into electronic form;
(6) May convert information recorded before the clerk began to record electronic documents into electronic form;
(7) May accept electronically any fee or tax that the clerk is authorized to collect; and
(8) May agree with other officials of a state or a political subdivision thereof, or of the United States, on procedures or processes to facilitate the electronic satisfaction of prior approvals and conditions precedent to recording and the electronic payment of fees and taxes.
§39A-4-5. Administration and standards.
(a) The Office of Technology, created in section three, article six, chapter five-a of this code, shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code containing the standards to implement this article. The Office of Technology shall establish a working group to develop the standards required by this article. The working group shall, at a minimum, include the Secretary of State, or a designee, representatives of the County Clerks' Association, the County Commissioners' Association, members of the West Virginia Bar Association who specialize in title work, mortgage lenders, the Division of Banking or both mortgage lenders and the Division of Banking and any other person or group that may offer pertinent information or assistance in establishing the standards.
(b) To keep the standards and practices of county clerks in this state in harmony with the standards and practices of recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact substantially the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act and to keep the technology used by clerks in this state compatible with technology used by recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact substantially this act, the Office of Technology so far as is consistent with the purposes, policies, and provisions of this article, in adopting, amending and repealing standards shall consider:
(1) Standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
(2) The most recent standards promulgated by national standard- setting bodies such as the Property Records Industry Association;
(3) The views of interested persons and governmental officials and entities;
(4) The needs of counties of varying size, population and resources; and
(5) Standards requiring adequate information security protection to ensure that electronic documents are accurate, authentic, adequately preserved and resistant to tampering.
§39A-4-6. Uniformity of application and construction.
In applying and construing this Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
§39A-4-7. Relation to electronic signatures in global and national commerce act.

This article modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. §7001, et seq.) but does not modify, limit or supersede §101(c) of that act (15 U.S.C. §7001(c)) or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in §103(b) of that act (15 U.S.C. §7003(b)).