A. Copies of records of this Commonwealth, of another state, of the United States, of another country, or of any political subdivision or agency of the same, other than those located in a clerk’s office of a court, shall be received as prima facie evidence, provided that such copies are authenticated to be true copies either by the custodian thereof or by the person to whom the custodian reports, if they are different. A digitally certified copy of a record provided pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 38.2 of Title 2.2, whether in electronic form or in print form with visible assurance of the digital signature, shall be deemed to be authenticated by the custodian of the record unless evidence is presented to the contrary.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.01-390

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • agency: shall be deemed to include without limitation any department, division, commission, association, board, or other administrative body established pursuant to the laws of a jurisdiction. See Virginia Code 8.01-385
  • court: shall be deemed to include the courts of this Commonwealth, any other person or body appointed by it or acting under its process or authority in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity, and any other judicial, quasi-judicial, or fact-finding body acting pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth, including without limitation, the State Corporation Commission and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. See Virginia Code 8.01-385
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;

    6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2

  • Records: as used in this article , shall be deemed to include any memorandum, report, paper, data compilation, or other record in any form, or any combination thereof. See Virginia Code 8.01-389
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • United States: shall be deemed to refer to the United States of America and to include any of its territories, commonwealths, insular possessions, the District of Columbia, and any of its other political subdivisions other than states. See Virginia Code 8.01-385

B. Records and recordings of 911 emergency service calls shall be deemed authentic transcriptions or recordings of the original statements if they are accompanied by a certificate that meets the provisions of subsection A and the certificate contains the date and time of the incoming call and the incoming phone number, if available, associated with the call.

C. An affidavit signed by an officer deemed to have custody of such an official record, or by his deputy, stating that after a diligent search, no record or entry of such record is found to exist among the records in his office is admissible as evidence that his office has no such record or entry.

1977, c. 617; 1996, c. 668; 2000, c. 334; 2014, c. 353; 2017, c. 738.

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