(2)(a) All books, records, writings, accounts, letters and letter books, maps, drawings, photographs, cards, tapes,
recordings, memoranda, and papers, and all copies, duplicates, photographs, including microfilm, or other reproductions thereof,
or any other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including information contained in electronic
data processing
equipment, having been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed, or retained for use in the conduct,
transaction, or performance of any business, transaction, work, duty, or function which was conducted, transacted, or performed
by or under the authority of the constitution or laws of this state, or by or under the authority of any ordinance, regulation,
mandate, or order of
any public body or concerning the receipt or payment of any money received or paid by or under the
authority of the constitution or the laws of this state, are "public records", except as otherwise provided in this Chapter
or the
Constitution of Louisiana.
(b) Notwithstanding Subparagraph (a), any documentary material of a security feature of a public body's electronic
data processing system, information technology system, telecommunications network, or electronic security system, including
hardware or software security, password, or security procedure,
process, configuration, software, and code is not a "public
record".
(3) As used in this Chapter, the word "custodian" means the public official or head of any public body having custody
or control of a public record, or a representative specifically authorized by him to respond to requests to inspect any such
public records.
B. Electrical well surveys produced from wells drilled in search of oil and gas located in established units and
which are filed with the assistant secretary of the office of conservation shall be placed in the open files of the office
of
conservation. Any party or firm shall have the right to examine or reproduce, or both, at their own expense, copies
of said survey, by photography or other means not injurious to said records. All other electric logs and other electronic
surveys, other than seismic data, produced from wells drilled in search of oil
and gas which are filed with the assistant
secretary of the office of conservation shall remain confidential upon the request of the owner so filing for periods as follows:
For wells shallower than fifteen thousand feet a period of one year, plus one
additional year when evidence is
submitted to the assistant secretary of the office of conservation that the owner of the log has a leasehold interest in the
general area in which the well was drilled and the log produced; for wells fifteen thousand feet deep or deeper, a period
of two years, plus two additional
years when evidence is submitted to the assistant secretary of the office of
conservation
that the owner of the log has such an interest in the general area
in which the well was drilled and the log produced;
and for wells drilled in the
offshore area, subsequent to July 1, 1977, regardless of depth, a period of two
years
from the filing of the log with the office of conservation, plus two additional years where evidence is submitted to the assistant
secretary of the office of conservation that the owner of the log has such an interest in the
general area in which the
well was drilled and the log produced and has immediate plans to develop the said general area, unless a shorter period of
confidentiality is specifically provided in the existing lease.
At the expiration of time in which any log or electronic surveys, other than
seismic data, shall be held as confidential
by the assistant secretary of the office of conservation as provided for above, said log or logs shall be placed
in the
open files of the office of conservation and any party or firm shall have the right to examine or reproduce, or both, at their
own expense, copies of said log or electronic survey, other than seismic data, by photography or other means
not injurious
to said records.
Amended by Acts 1973, No. 135,§ 1; Acts 1973, Ex.Sess., No. 4,§ 1; Acts 1978,
No. 686,§ 1; Acts 1979, No. 691,§
1; Acts 1980, No. 248,§ 1; Acts 2001, No.
707,§ 1, eff. June 25, 2001; Acts 2001, No. 882,§ 1.