§ 42-8.1-2 - Definitions.
SECTION 42-8.1-2
§ 42-8.1-2 Definitions. – For the purpose of this chapter:
(1) "Agency" or "public body" means any executive,legislative, judicial, regulatory, administrative body of the state or anypolitical subdivision thereof; including, but not limited to the leadership ofthe general assembly, chairperson in the house and senate, public officialselected or appointed and any department, division, agency, commission, board,office, bureau, authority, any school, fire, or water district, or other agencyor quasi-public agency of state or local government which exercisesgovernmental functions, any other public or private agency, person,partnership, corporation, or business entity acting on behalf of any publicagency.
(2) "Archive" means an establishment maintained primarily forthe storage, servicing, security, and processing of records that must bepreserved permanently for historical, legal or other value and need not beretained in office equipment and space.
(3) "Archivist" means the state archivist, the director ofthe division of state archives.
(4) "Authenticated copies" means exact copies orreproductions of records or other materials that are certified as such underseal and that need be legally accepted as evidence.
(5) "Commission" means the Rhode Island historical recordscommission.
(6) "Custodian" means and includes the official custodian orany authorized person having personal custody and control of the public recordsin question.
(7) "Division" means the division of state archives of thedepartment of state.
(8) "Official custodian" means and includes any officer oremployee of the state or any agency, institution, or political subdivisionthereof, who is responsible for the maintenance, care, and keeping of publicrecords, regardless of whether such records are in his or her actual personalcustody and control.
(9) "Person" means and includes any natural person,corporation, partnership, firm, or association.
(10) "Political subdivision" means and includes every city,town, school district, fire district, water or sanitation district, or anyother special district or other quasi-public agency within the state.
(11) "Public record" or "public records" means public recordsas defined in chapter 2 of title 38, "Access to Public Records".
(12) "Records" means all books, letters, papers, maps,photographs, tapes, films, sound recordings, machine-readable records or anyother documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics,made or received by any governmental agency in pursuance of law or inconnection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriatefor preservation by the agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of theorganization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or otheractivities of the government or because of the value of the official governmentdata contained therein. As used in this part 1, the following are excluded fromthe definition of records:
(i) Materials preserved or appropriate for preservationbecause of the value of the data contained therein other than that of anofficial government nature or because of the historical value of the materialsthemselves;
(ii) Library books, pamphlets, newspapers, or museum materialmade, acquired, or preserved for reference, historical, or exhibition purposes;
(iii) Private papers, manuscripts, letters, diaries,pictures, biographies, books, and maps, including materials and collectionspreviously owned by persons other than the state or any political subdivisionthereof;
(iv) Extra copies of publications or duplicated documentspreserved for convenience of reference;
(v) Stocks of publications.
(13) "State archives" or "archives of the state" means thoseofficial records that have been determined by the archivist to have sufficienthistorical, legal, or other value to warrant their continued preservation bythe state, and have been accepted by the state archivist for deposit in his orher custody.
(14) "State archives" means an establishment maintained bythe division for the preservation of those public records that have beendetermined by the division to have sufficient historical or other value towarrant their continued preservation by the state and have been accepted by thedivision for deposit in its custody.
(15) "Trust fund" means the archives trust fund.