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Rule 902 Self-authentication
Extrinsic evidence of authenticity as a condition precedent to admissibility is not
required with respect to the following:
(1) Domestic public documents under seal. A document bearing a seal purporting
to be that of the United States, or of any state, district, Commonwealth,
territory, or insular possession thereof, or the Panama Canal Zone, or the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands, or of a political subdivision, department, officer,
or agency thereof, and a signature purporting to be an attestation or execution.
(2) Domestic public documents not under seal. A document purporting to bear the
signature in the official capacity of an officer or employee of any entity included
in paragraph (1) of this rule, having no seal, if a public officer having a seal and
having official duties in the district or political subdivision of the officer or
employee certifies under seal that the signer has the official capacity and that
the signature is genuine.
(3) Foreign public documents. A document purporting to be executed, or attested
in an official capacity by a person authorized by the laws of a foreign country to
make the execution or attestation, and accompanied by a final certification as
to the genuineness of the signature of official position:
(A) Of the executing or attesting person; or
(B) Of any foreign official whose certificate of genuineness of signature and
official position relates to the execution or attestation.
A final certification may be made by a secretary of embassy or legation, consul
general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States, or a
diplomatic or consular official of the foreign country assigned or accredited to
the United States. If reasonable opportunity has been given to all parties to
investigate the authenticity and accuracy of official documents, the court may,
for good cause shown, order that they be treated as presumptively authentic
without final certification or permit them to be evidenced by an attested
summary with or without final certification.
(4) Official records. An official record or an entry therein, when admissible for any
purpose, may be evidenced by an official publication thereof or by a copy
attested by an official having the legal custody of the record. If the office in
which the record is kept is outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the
attested copy shall be accompanied by a certificate that the official attesting to
the accuracy of the copy has the authority to do so. The certificate
accompanying domestic records (those from offices within the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States) may be made by a judge of a court of record
of the district or political subdivision in which the record is kept, authenticated
by the seal of the court, or may be made by any public officer having a seal of
office and having official duties in the district or political subdivision in which the
record is kept, authenticated by the seal of office. The certificate accompanying
foreign records (those from offices outside the territorial jurisdiction of the
United States) may be made by a secretary of embassy or legation, consul
general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent or by any officer in the foreign
service of the United States stationed in the foreign state or country in which
the record is kept, and authenticated by the seal of office. A written statement
prepared by an official having the custody of a record that after diligent search
no record or entry of a specified tenor is found to exist in the records of the
office, complying with the requirements set out above, is admissible as
evidence that the records of the office contain no such record of entry.
(5) Official publications. Books, pamphlets, or other publications purporting to be
issued by public authority.
(6) Books, newspapers, and periodicals. Printed materials purporting to be books,
newspapers, or periodicals.
(7) Trade inscriptions and the like. Inscriptions, signs, tags, or labels purporting to
have been affixed in the course of business and indicating ownership, control,
or origin.
(8) Acknowledged documents. Documents accompanied by a certificate of
acknowledgement executed in the manner provided by law before a notary
public or other officer authorized by law to take acknowledgements.
(9) Commercial paper and related documents. Commercial paper, signatures
thereon, and documents relating thereto to the extent provided by the general
commercial law.
(10) Documents which self-authenticate by the provisions of statutes or other rules
of evidence. Any signature, document, or other matter which is declared to be
presumptively genuine by Act of Congress or the General Assembly of
Kentucky or by rule of the Supreme Court of Kentucky.
(11) Business records.
(A) Unless the sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack of
trustworthiness, the original or a duplicate of a record of regularly
conducted activity within the scope of KRE 803(6) or KRE 803(7), which
the custodian thereof certifies:
(i) Was made, at or near the time of the occurrence of the matters
set forth, by (or from information transmitted by) a person with
knowledge of those matters;
(ii) Is kept in the course of the regularly conducted activity; and
(iii) Was made by the regularly conducted activity as a regular
practice.
(B) A record so certified is not self-authenticating under this paragraph unless
the proponent makes an intention to offer it known to the adverse party
and makes it available for inspection sufficiently in advance of its offer in
evidence to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to challenge
it.
(C) As used in this paragraph, "certifies" means, with respect to a domestic
record, a written declaration under oath subject to the penalty of perjury,
and, with respect to a foreign record, a written declaration which, if falsely
made, would subject the maker to criminal penalty under the laws of that
country. The certificate relating to a foreign record must be accompanied
by a final certification as to the genuineness of the signature and official
position:
(i) Of the individual executing the certificate; or
(ii) Of any foreign official who certifies the genuineness of
signature and official position of the executing individual or is
the last in a chain of certificates that collectively certify the
genuineness of signature and official position of the executing
individual.
A final certification must be made by a secretary of embassy or legation,
consul general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent or by an officer in
the foreign service of the United States stationed in the foreign state or
country in which the record is kept, and authenticated by the seal of
office.
Effective:July 1, 1992
History: Enacted 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 88, sec. 63; amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324,
sec. 24; renumbered (7/1/92) pursuant to 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324, sec. 34.
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