N.Y. Legislative Law § 22: Custody of legislative papers and documents

§ 22. Custody of legislative papers and documents. The secretary or

clerk of each house, as the case may be, shall take charge of and keep

on file all legislative papers and documents of such house, and those

presented to it; and shall cause all such papers and documents in his

charge to be so classified and arranged that they can be easily found.

As used in this section, "legislative papers and documents" means: bills

and amendments thereto; fiscal notes; introducers' bill memoranda;

resolutions and amendments thereto; and index records; messages received

from the governor or the other house of the legislature; home rule

messages; legislative notification of the proposed adoption of rules by

a state agency; members' code of ethics statements; transcripts, minutes

or journal records of public sessions, including meetings of committees

and subcommittees and public hearings, with the records of attendance of

members thereat and records of any votes taken; final reports and formal

opinions submitted to the legislature; and final reports or

recommendations and minority or dissenting reports and opinions of

members of committees, subcommittees, or commissions of the legislature.

No such paper or document shall be withdrawn from the files of either

house, whether the same be in charge of the regents of the university or

the secretary or clerk of such house, except that such secretary or

clerk, or a deputy appointed by him, shall have access to the papers and

documents of such house in charge of the regents for the purpose of

taking copies. Any person may obtain a certified copy of any such paper

or document in such files by applying to the secretary or clerk or such

deputy in charge thereof and paying to such secretary, clerk or deputy

such fees as are prescribed pursuant to the provisions of the public

officers law. Either house may, by resolution, order title deeds or

original documents accompanying any petition to be delivered to the

persons entitled thereto. The journals of proceedings and legislative

papers and documents of each house, heretofore published and now in the

custody of its secretary or clerk, and such papers and documents of each

house hereafter published and kept in custody of its secretary or clerk,

shall be deemed for all purposes to be the original journals of the

proceedings and the original papers and documents of such house. The

journal clerk of each house shall compare a printed volume or volumes of

its journal of proceedings hereafter published under the direction of

the secretary or clerk of such house with the original manuscript copy

thereof, and having noted in such printed volume or volumes each error

contained therein, shall attach thereto a certificate, under his hand

and official seal, that each such printed volume, as corrected, is a

correct transcript of the text of such original manuscript copy. He

shall thereupon deposit such printed volume or volumes, so corrected and

certified, in the custody of the secretary or clerk of such house, and

the same shall thereupon become and be deemed for all purposes to be the

original journal or journals of proceedings of such house; and the same,

or a copy certified by the secretary or clerk, or journal clerk may be

read in evidence. The manuscript copy of the journal prepared by the

journal clerk shall be kept continuously in the custody of the secretary

or clerk until the journal shall have been printed, compared, corrected

and certified in the form and manner provided herein, thereafter, in the

discretion of the secretary or clerk, such manuscript copy and the

original copies of introduced bills and resolutions may be destroyed.

The secretary or clerk shall cause a duplicate or typewritten copy of

said manuscript copy of each day's journal to be prepared and furnished

to the printer for his use in printing the journal.