(a) The agency head may make or cause to be made preservation duplicates or may designate as preservation duplicates existing copies of essential state records. A preservation duplicate shall be durable, accurate, complete, and clear, and a preservation duplicate made by means of photography, microphotography, photocopying, film, microfilm, electronic file, or digital image stored on unalterable media shall be made in conformity with the standards prescribed therefor by the administrator.
(b) A preservation duplicate made by a photographic, photostatic, microfilm, microcard, miniature photographic, electronic file, digital image, or other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable and unalterable medium for so reproducing the original, shall have the same force and effect for all purposes as the original record whether the original record is in existence or not. A transcript, exemplification, or certified copy of such preservation duplicate shall be deemed for all purposes to be a transcript, exemplification, or certified copy of the original record.
Structure West Virginia Code
Chapter 5A. Department of Administration
Article 8. Public Records Management and Preservation Act
§5A-8-2. Declaration of Policy
§5A-8-4. Categories of Records to Be Preserved
§5A-8-5. State Records Administrator
§5A-8-6. Records Management and Preservation Advisory Committee
§5A-8-7. Duties of Administrator
§5A-8-8. Rules and Regulations
§5A-8-9. Duties of Agency Heads
§5A-8-10. Essential State Records Preservation Duplicates
§5A-8-11. Essential State Records Safekeeping
§5A-8-12. Essential State Records Maintenance, Inspection, and Use
§5A-8-13. Essential State Records Confidential Records
§5A-8-14. Essential State Records Review of Program
§5A-8-16. Assistance to Legislative and Judicial Branches
§5A-8-18. Destruction of Nonrecord Materials
§5A-8-20. Alternate Storage of State Records
§5A-8-22. Personal Information Maintained by State Entities