§ KRE 902 Self-authentication
KRE 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.
Research Note