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Electronic Signatures

This page provides an overview of electronic signatures for local governments in Washington State, including best practices for creating policies and accepting e-signatures.

Overview 

State and local agencies are authorized to use and accept electronic signatures (also known as e-signatures), making them an effective option for efficiently securing authorization. Beginning in 2016, local agencies were specifically allowed to use electronic signatures by Chapter 19.360 RCW, and in 2020, Chapter 19.360 RCW was repealed and replaced by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), expanding these permissions.

Codified in Chapter 1.80 RCW, the UETA provides for essentially the same authority as Chapter 19.360 RCW with respect to local agencies’ use of electronic signatures. Unless state or federal law requires a physical, “wet” signature, e-signatures have the same legal effect as handwritten authorization. Typical local government records can utilize e-signatures in lieu of wet signatures.

UETA does not require agencies to use electronic signatures (RCW 1.80.170(3)). But if agencies decide to use electronic signatures, they should adopt electronic signature policies to establish parameters for their use. These policies should consider:

  • Types of acceptable electronic signatures
  • Methods for attaching electronic signatures to records
  • Acceptable third-party authentication platforms (if any) (RCW 1.80.170)

What Is an Electronic Signature?

Prior to adoption of the UETA in 2020, Washington’s law essentially only allowed use of digital signatures, a sub-type of electronic signatures that require security technology to confirm identity, typically through third-party authentication.

UETA allows Washington local governments to accept a much broader range of e-signatures. According to RCW 1.80.010, an electronic signature can be “an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.”

This means agencies have freedom to decide which types of electronic signatures they will accept. For instance, an agency could define an acceptable e-signature as one or more of the following:

  • A wet signature that is scanned or photographed and pasted into a record;
  • An email signature or signature block;
  • A simple e-signature (SES) using a digital pen or fingertip;
  • A typed signature like “/s/ Jane Doe”; or
  • A digital signature certified by third-party authentication. For instance, Vancouver’s Use of Electronic Signatures policy (2020) authorizes DocuSign, a third-party electronic signature platform (or its replacement) to “affix electronic signatures to City records.”

UETA also allows agencies to use electronic as well as remote notaries. In these instances, the notary or attestant must provide their own e-signature and identifying information along with the signer’s (RCW 1.80.100). Lynnwood’s Electronic Signature and Remote Notarization Policy (2020) outlines how notaries can authorize signatures using virtual methods.

Examples of Policies Outlining Types of Acceptable Electronic Signatures

Acceptable Record Types

Electronic signatures are accepted on most types of local government records in Washington. Only a few document types not normally used by local governments, such as wills and codicils, are not valid if signed electronically. These exceptions are described in RCW 1.80.020 and Title 62A RCW.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of record types that can be signed using e-signatures:

  • Contracts
  • Meeting minutes
  • Claim vouchers
  • Performance bonds
  • Bid bonds
  • Payroll
  • Resolutions
  • Ordinances

Best Practices for Using Electronic Signatures

If an agency wants to accept an electronic signature on a document, both the agency and the signatory must agree to e-signing; otherwise, the process cannot be used. Thurston County’s Electronic Signatures Policy (2021) describes how all parties must be willing to sign using electronic methods.

RCW 1.80.080 also provides that an electronic signature can only be attributed to the signer if the signing “was the act of the person.” Local governments can verify a signer performed this act using “any manner” they see fit, including implementing e-signing security procedures.

Some local governments permit each office or department within their jurisdiction to create its own e-signature policy. As an example, Benton County’s Electronic Signature Policy (2021) allows each elected office and all departments reporting to the county administrator to decide whether they will accept electronic signatures.

Individuals can also be authorized to sign on behalf of an agency. For example, if the mayor provides phone or email authorization for an individual (like the city clerk) to sign on their behalf, the approved signatory must document both how the mayor provided authorization (for example, via email or phone) and when this request took place. The clerk would then write the following in the signature line:

[Clerk’s signature] for [printed name of mayor] by [email or phone] authorization on [date authorized].

This may be a good option when the clerk wants to maintain the records in a central location and the agency does not have special software, or if the mayor cannot scan the record with their signature attached.

Developing an Electronic Signatures Policy

Local agencies should adopt policies that dictate if and how they use electronic signatures based on UETA guidelines. These policies do not need to be complicated; a written document signed by a department director may suffice.

UETA provides guidance on what to address in an agency policy, including:

  • The manner and format in which electronic records must be created, generated, sent, communicated, received, and stored, and the systems established for those purposes;
  • If records must be signed by electronic means, the type of electronic signature required, the manner and format in which the electronic signature must be affixed to the electronic record, and the identity of, or criteria that must be met by, any third party used by a person filing a document to facilitate the process; and
  • The control processes and procedures as appropriate to ensure adequate preservation, disposition, integrity, security, confidentiality, and auditability of electronic records.

Further, the Washington State Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)’s Electronic Signature Guidelines can help shape policy development. Although drafted prior to passage of UETA, the guidelines are generally still applicable.

Some governments may wonder if they need to adopt e-signature policies by resolution. RCW 1.80.170, which focuses specifically on the use of electronic signatures by government agencies, does not contain such a requirement. Agencies should follow their local procedures regarding policy adoption, whether by administrative action by the executive or by formal action of the governing body.

Examples of Electronic Signature Policies


Last Modified: February 23, 2024