US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

(a) The clerk of the court in which indictments are returned shall, forthwith and without allowing them to be taken out of his custody or control, record the same, with the endorsement thereon, in a well-bound book which shall be properly indexed and kept secret, as indictments are required to be kept secret, before the arrest of the defendant; and, if the office of the clerk is furnished with an iron safe or vault, it shall be kept therein.

(b) The court may require the production of such book on the trial of the defendant for comparison of the indictment against the defendant with the record thereof only in cases where the trial is had on a certified copy of the indictment as provided by law.

(c) Indictments may be recorded by means of a photograph or photostat machine.

(Code 1886, §4388; Code 1896, §4916; Code 1907, §7154; Code 1923, §4549; Acts 1939, No. 387, p. 509; Code 1940, T. 15, §252.)