SECTIONS 12159-12179.1 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 12159-12179.1

12159. The Secretary of State shall keep a correct record of the
official acts of the legislative and executive departments of the
government, and shall, when required, lay the same and all matters
relative thereto before either branch of the Legislature, and shall
perform such other duties as may be assigned him by law.

12160. The Secretary of State is charged with custody of:
(a) The enrolled copy of the Constitution.
(b) All acts and resolutions passed by the Legislature.
(c) The Journals of the Legislature.
(d) The Great Seal.
(e) All books, records, deeds, parchments, maps, and papers, kept
or deposited in his office pursuant to law.

12161. The Secretary of State shall attend at every session of the
Legislature, for the purpose of receiving bills and resolutions and
perform such other duties as may be devolved upon him by resolution
of the two houses, or either of them.

12162. The Secretary of State shall keep a register and attest the
official acts of the Governor and shall affix the Great Seal, with
his attestation, to commissions, pardons, and other public
instruments, to which the official signature of the Governor is
required.

12163. The Secretary of State shall receive and record in proper
books the official bonds of all officers whose bonds are required by
law to be filed with him.

12164. The Secretary of State shall record all conveyances made to
the state, except (1) evidences of title acquired for state highway
purposes and retained by the Department of Transportation, and (2)
conveyances of tax-sold property.

12165. The Secretary of State shall certify and declare the result
of all elections upon any question submitted to the electors of the
State by either initiative or referendum petition filed in his office
and make official declaration of the vote upon each question.

12166. Within 100 days after the final adjournment of each session
of the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall deliver to the State
Printing Office his certificate showing what acts, or sections, or
parts of acts of the Legislature are delayed from going into effect
by referendum petition properly certified and filed in his office.

12167. Within 60 days after the day on which a general election is
held throughout the State, the Secretary of State shall deliver to
the State Printing Office his certificate showing:
(a) What laws or constitutional amendments, proposed by initiative
petition and approved by the people, have gone into operation, and
the date of going into operation.
(b) The result of all elections upon any question submitted to the
electors of the State by initiative or referendum petition within
the preceding two years.

12168. On demand, the Secretary of State shall furnish, to any
person paying the fees therefor, a certified copy of all or any part
of any law, record, or other instrument filed, deposited, or recorded
in his office.

12168.5. (a) When not inconsistent with other provisions of law, in
lieu of filing or recording documents presented in paper format, the
Secretary of State may adopt rules and regulations to authorize the
electronic filing, including filing by facsimile, of any document
required to be filed with the Secretary of State under any act
administered by the Secretary of State. The rules and regulations may
set forth standards for the acceptance of a signature in a form
other than the proper handwriting of the person filing a document
that requires his or her signature. A signature on a document
electronically filed or filed by facsimile in accordance with those
rules and regulations is prima facie evidence for all purposes that
the document actually was signed by the person whose signature
appears on the electronically filed document or facsimile.
The filing or recording shall constitute a unique computerized
informational record. The record need not be retained in the form in
which it is received, if the technology used to retain the record
results in a permanent record that does not permit additions,
deletions, or changes in the original document and from which an
accurate image may be created during the period for which the record
is required to be retained.
The filing officer may employ a system of microphotography,
optical disk, or reproduction by other techniques that do not permit
additions, deletions, or changes to the original document.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5, the Secretary of State shall
prepare and submit to the Legislature at the commencement of the
public comment period required under Article 5 (commencing with
Section 11346) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 a report of, and a copy of,
any rules and regulations proposed pursuant to subdivision (a) to
authorize the electronic filing, including filing by facsimile, of
documents required to be filed with the Secretary of State.
(c) All film used in the microphotography process shall comply
with minimum standards of quality approved by the United States
Bureau of Standards and the American National Standards Institute. A
true copy of the microfilm, optical disk, or other storage medium
shall be kept in a safe and separate place for security purposes. A
reproduction of any document filed, recorded, stored, or retained on
microfilm, optical disk, or by other technology pursuant to this
section shall be as admissible in any court as the original itself.
The Secretary of State shall obtain the approval of the Fair
Political Practices Commission before applying this section to a
filing or recording under the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Title 9
(commencing with Section 81000)).

12168.7. (a) The California Legislature hereby recognizes the need
to adopt uniform statewide standards for the purpose of storing and
recording permanent and nonpermanent documents in electronic media.
(b) In order to ensure that uniform statewide standards remain
current and relevant, the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Department of General Services, shall approve and adopt
appropriate standards established by the American National Standards
Institute or the Association for Information and Image Management.
(c) The standards specified in subdivision (b) shall include a
requirement that a trusted system be utilized. For this purpose and
for purposes of Sections 25105, 26205, 26205.1, 26205.5, 26907,
27001, 27322.2, 34090.5, and 60203, Section 102235 of the Health and
Safety Code, and Section 10851 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
"trusted system" means a combination of techniques, policies, and
procedures for which there is no plausible scenario in which a
document retrieved from or reproduced by the system could differ
substantially from the document that is originally stored.
(d) In order to develop statewide standards as expeditiously as
possible, and until the time that statewide standards are adopted
pursuant to subdivision (b), state officials shall ensure that
microfilming, electronic data imaging, and photographic reproduction
are done in compliance with the minimum standards or guidelines, or
both, as recommended by the American National Standards Institute or
the Association for Information and Image Management for recording of
permanent records or nonpermanent records.

12169. The Secretary of State shall file in his office descriptions
of seals in use by the different State officers and furnish such
officers with new seals whenever required.

12170. On or before the fifteenth day of September in each even
numbered year, the Secretary of State shall report to the Governor a
detailed account of all of his official actions since his previous
report. The report shall be accompanied with a detailed statement,
under oath, of the manner in which all appropriations for his office
have been expended.

12171. The Secretary of State shall compile and maintain a complete
list of all districts for which certificates or copies of orders,
ordinances or resolutions declaring districts formed or organized
have been filed. This list shall contain the name of each district,
the date of formation, and the county or counties in which the
district is located.
The list of districts, and all certificates, maps, or copies of
orders, ordinances or resolutions filed with the Secretary of State
in connection with the formation, change of boundaries, merger,
consolidation, or dissolution of districts, shall be open to
inspection by the public.

12172. The Secretary of State shall, upon the request of the
proponents of an initiative measure which is to be submitted to the
voters of the state, review the provisions of the initiative measure
after it is prepared prior to its circulation. In conducting the
review, the Secretary of State shall do both of the following:
(a) Analyze and comment on the provisions of the measure with
respect to form and language clarity.
(b) Request and obtain a statement of fiscal impact from the
Legislative Analyst.
The Legislative Analyst shall furnish the Secretary of State with
a statement of fiscal impact with respect to the initiative measure
within 25 working days after being requested to do so by the
Secretary of State pursuant to subdivision (b).
In the preparation of the statement of fiscal impact, the
Legislative Analyst may use the fiscal estimate or the opinion
prepared pursuant to Section 9005 of the Elections Code.
The review performed pursuant to this section shall be for the
purpose of suggestion only and shall not have any binding effect on
the proponents of the initiative measure.

12172.5. The Secretary of State is the chief elections officer of
the state, and shall administer the provisions of the Elections Code.
The Secretary of State shall see that elections are efficiently
conducted and that state election laws are enforced. The Secretary of
State may require elections officers to make reports concerning
elections in their jurisdictions.
If, at any time, the Secretary of State concludes that state
election laws are not being enforced, the Secretary of State shall
call the violation to the attention of the district attorney of the
county or to the Attorney General. In these instances, the Secretary
of State may assist the county elections officer in discharging his
or her duties.
In order to determine whether an elections law violation has
occurred the Secretary of State may examine voted, unvoted, spoiled
and canceled ballots, vote-counting computer programs, absent voter
envelopes and applications, and supplies referred to in Section 14432
of the Elections Code. The Secretary of State may also examine any
other records of elections officials as he or she finds necessary in
making his or her determination, subject to the restrictions set
forth in Section 6253.5.
The Secretary of State may adopt regulations to assure the uniform
application and administration of state election laws.

12173. The Secretary of State's office shall develop a program to
utilize modern communications and information processing technology
to enhance the availability and accessibility of information on
statewide candidates and ballot initiatives. This includes making
information available online as well as through other information
processing technology.

12174. (a) The Secretary of State shall administer, protect,
develop, and interpret the Secretary of State and State Archives
Building Complex located in Sacramento in the area bounded by 10th,
11th, O, and P Streets as authorized by Section 12235 for the use,
education, and enjoyment of the public.
(b) The Secretary of State may enter into an operating agreement
with the Golden State Museum Public Benefit Corporation (GSMPBC),
formerly known as the California Archives Foundation, an existing
California nonprofit public benefit corporation, tax exempt under
Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, or its
successor. Under the operating agreement with the Secretary of State
(including the State Archives), the corporation shall operate a
museum located in the Secretary of State and State Archives Building
Complex, including development, administration, interpretation, and
management of the museum and related public services, and acquiring
and managing funding for the museum's programs and services.
Secondarily, the corporation may support the programs and operations
of the State Archives.
(c) The governing board of the corporation shall include the
Secretary of State or any Assistant Secretary of State designated by
the Secretary of State and the Director of Parks and Recreation or
his or her designee as ex officio voting members of the board. The
board shall be the governing authority for operations funded through
moneys received by the museum. The board shall submit an audit report
annually to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall
submit copies of the annual audit reports to the Director of Finance,
the Chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, and the Chair of
the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. No funds raised or assets
acquired by the corporation shall be used for purposes inconsistent
with support of the museum and the State Archives.
(d) No later than January 10 of each year, the corporation shall
submit the corporation business plan for the following fiscal year to
the Director of Finance and the Chair of the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee for review and comment. The executive director of
the corporation shall also submit, not less than 30 days prior to
adoption by the governing board of the corporation, any proposed
formal amendments to the corporation business plan to the Director of
Finance and the Chair of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for
review and comment.
(e) Fees charged to members of the public for copying,
reproduction, and other services provided by the State Archives shall
be at a level consistent with the costs of providing these services.
The Secretary of State may establish an agreement with the
corporation to provide these services and collect moneys for
providing these services.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the GSMPBC, or its
successor, is a private nonprofit corporation and shall not be
considered a state, local, or other public body for any purpose.
(g) The Legislature encourages the governing board of the
corporation to conduct its meetings in an open manner, establish a
board membership that is representative and reflective of California'
s rich history, and work cooperatively with the Secretary of State to
ensure public input, confidence, and accountability in the museum's
use of its resources and the protection of California's priceless
archives, collections, and artifacts.

12175. The Secretary of State shall keep a fee book. There shall be
entered in the book all fees, commissions, and compensation of
whatever nature or kind that are earned, collected, or charged, with
the date, name of payer, paid or not paid, and the nature of the
service in each case. The book shall be verified annually by the
Secretary of State's affidavit entered therein.

12176. (a) Commencing July 1, 1992, all fees collected by the
Secretary of State's office pursuant to the Business and Professions
Code, Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Commercial Code,
Corporations Code, Food and Agricultural Code, Harbors and Navigation
Code, and this code, excluding Section 81008 of this code, shall be
paid into the Secretary of State's Business Fees Fund which was
created by former Section 12181 and is hereby continued in existence
in the State Treasury for the administration of that portion of the
Secretary of State's functions under these codes.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that moneys deposited into
the Secretary of State's Business Fees Fund shall be used to support
the programs from which fees are collected. It is further the intent
of the Legislature that fees shall be sufficient to cover the costs
of these programs and shall be expended, commencing in the 1992-93
fiscal year, to the extent that appropriations are made in the annual
Budget Act. Of the fees collected, and any interest earned thereon,
in excess of the authority of the Secretary of State to expend
pursuant to the annual Budget Act, up to one million dollars
($1,000,000) may remain in the Secretary of State's Business Fee
Fund. Any additional excess fees and interest earned shall be
transferred to the General Fund at the end of each fiscal year.
At least weekly, all fees collected by the Secretary of State
shall be paid into the State Treasury.

12177. For services performed in his or her office, the Secretary
of State shall charge and collect the fees fixed in this article.

12178. No member of the Legislature or state officer shall be
charged for any search relative to matters appertaining to the duties
of his or her office, nor shall he or she be charged any fee for a
certified copy of any law or resolution passed by the Legislature
relative to his or her official duties.

12178.1. (a) Except for copies of documents on file prepared
pursuant to Section 12182, the fee for preparing a copy of any law,
resolution, record, or other document on file in the office of the
Secretary of State, is one dollar ($1) for the first page, and fifty
cents ($0.50) for each additional page.
(b) Except for copies of documents on file prepared pursuant to
subdivision (a), the Secretary of State shall provide compilations,
indexes, extracts, or summaries of information, including computer
information, contained in the public records of the Secretary of
State at a charge sufficient to recover costs. Except where a fee or
charge is prescribed by statute, the fee or charge imposed pursuant
to this subdivision shall not exceed ten dollars ($10) per inquiry.
(c) Except as provided in Section 12185, the fee for comparing a
copy of any law, resolution, record, or other document or paper with
the original, or the certified copy of the original, on file in the
office of the Secretary of State, is three dollars ($3).
(d) The Secretary of State may enter into contracts to provide
information and copies and access to information, including direct
access to computer information. The contracts may include reasonable
conditions for access to information. The amounts payable pursuant to
these contracts shall be sufficient to recover costs.
(e) The Secretary of State may require persons and firms regularly
using the research facilities of the Secretary of State to use those
research facilities only pursuant to a contract under subdivision
(d).
(f) All fees, reimbursements, and contract amounts pursuant to
this section shall be accounted as Secretary of State expenditure
reimbursements.
(g) Fees for special handling pursuant to Section 12182 are in
addition to amounts pursuant to this section.

12179. The fee for attesting each patent for land issued by the
Governor is one dollar ($1) for each 160 acres, or fraction thereof.

12179.1. The fee for attesting each commission, passport, or other
document signed by the Governor is ten dollars ($10).
A fee shall not be charged for attesting pardons, extradition
papers, military commissions, and commissions issued to nonsalaried
state officers other than notaries public.