Evidence That Is Self-Authenticating

The following items of evidence are self-authenticating; they require no extrinsic evidence of authenticity in order to be admitted: (1) Domestic Public Documents That Are Sealed and Signed. A document that bears: (A) a seal purporting to be that of the United States; any state, district, commonwealth, territory, or insular possession of the United States; the former Panama Canal Zone; the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; a political subdivision of any of these entities; or a department, agency, or officer of any entity named above; and (B) a signature purporting to be an execution or attestation. (2) Domestic Public Documents That Are Not Sealed but Are Signed and Certified. A document that bears no seal if: (A) it bears the signature of an officer or employee of an entity named in Rule 902(1)(A); and (B) another public officer who has a seal and official duties within that same entity certifies under seal – or its equivalent – that the signer has the official capacity and that the signature is genuine. (3) Foreign Public Documents. A document that purports to be signed or attested by a person who is authorized by a foreign country’s law to do so. The document must be accompanied by a final certification that certifies the genuineness of the signature and official position of the signer or attester – or of any foreign official whose certificate of genuineness relates to the signature or attestation or is in a chain of certificates of genuineness relating to the signature or attestation. The certification may be made by a secretary of a United States embassy or legation; by a consul general, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States; or by a diplomatic or consular official of the foreign country assigned or accredited to the United States. If all parties have been given a reasonable opportunity to investigate the document’s authenticity and accuracy, the court may, for good cause, either: (A) order that it be treated as presumptively authentic without final certification; or (B) allow it to be evidenced by an attested summary with or without final certification. (4) Certified Copies of Public Records. A copy of an official record – or a copy of a document that was recorded or filed in a public office as authorized by law – if the copy is certified as correct by: (A) the custodian or another person authorized to make the certification; or (B) a certificate that complies with Rule 902(1), (2), or (3), a federal statute, or a rule prescribed by the Mississippi Supreme Court pursuant to statutory authority. (5) Official Publications. A book, pamphlet, or other publication purporting to be issued by a public authority. (6) Newspapers and Periodicals. Printed material purporting to be a newspaper or periodical. (7) Trade Inscriptions and the Like. An inscription, sign, tag, or label purporting to have been affixed in the course of business and indicating origin, ownership, or control. (8) Acknowledged Documents. A document accompanied by a certificate of acknowledgment that is lawfully executed by a notary public or another officer who is authorized to take acknowledgments. (9) Commercial Paper and Related Documents. Commercial paper, a signature on it, and related documents, to the extent allowed by general commercial law. (10) Presumptions Under a Federal or State Statute. A signature, document, or other matter that a Mississippi or federal statute declares to be presumptively or prima facie genuine or authentic. (11) Certified Records of a Regularly Conducted Activity. A record that meets the requirements of Rule 803(6), if a certificate of the custodian or another qualified witness complies with subparagraph (A). (A) Certificate. The certificate must show: (i) the custodian’s or witness’s first hand knowledge of the making, maintenance, and storage of the record; and (ii) that the record complies with Article X and Rules 803(6)(A)-(C) and 901(a). A certificate relating to a foreign record must also be accompanied by the final certification required by paragraph (3). (B) Notice. Before the trial or hearing at which the record will be offered, the proponent must give an adverse party notice of the intent to offer the record – and must provide a copy of the record and certificate – so that the party has a fair opportunity to state any objection. Otherwise, the record is not self- authenticating under this paragraph (11). (C) Making Objections. An adverse party waives any objection that is not: (i) stated specifically in writing; and (ii) served within 15 days after receiving the notice required by subparagraph (B), or at a later time that the parties agree on or that the court allows. (D) Hearing and Ruling on Objections. The proponent must schedule a hearing on any objection, and the court should determine admissibility of the record before the trial or hearing at which it may be offered. If the court cannot do so, the record is not self-authenticating under this paragraph (11). (E) Sanctions. In a civil case after the trial or hearing, the proponent may move that the objecting party and attorney pay the expenses of presenting the evidence necessary to have the record admitted. The court must so order, if it determines that the objection raised no genuine question and lacked arguable good cause. (F) Definitions. In this paragraph “certificate” means: (i) for a domestic record, a written declaration under oath or attestation given under penalty of perjury; and (ii) for a foreign record, a written declaration signed in a foreign country that, if falsely made, would subject the maker to criminal penalty under that country’s laws. (12) Certified Records Generated by an Electronic Process or System. A record generated by an electronic process or system that produces an accurate result, as shown by a certification of a qualified person that complies with the certification and notice requirements of Rule 902(11). (13) Certified Data Copied from an Electronic Device, Storage Medium, or File. Data copied from an electronic device, storage medium, or file, if authenticated by a process of digital identification, as shown by a certification of a qualified person that complies with the certification and notice requirements of Rule 902(11). [Restyled effective July 1, 2016; amended effective July 1, 2020.] Advisory Committee Historical Note Effective July 1, 2016, the Rule was amended as part of the general restyling of the Evidence Rules. Effective June 16, 2016, the “Comment” was retitled “Advisory Committee Note.” Effective July 1, 1997, Rule 902 and its Advisory Committee Note were amended to add subsection (11) to allow predicates for records of regularly conducted activities to be proven by affidavit. 689-692 So. 2d LXVIII (West Miss. Cas. 1997). Effective March 20, 1995, the Advisory Committee Note to Rules 902(3), (8) and (9) were amended to note the repeal of statutes and to delete reference to a U.C.C. section. 648-651 So. 2d 651 So. 2d XXVI (West Miss. Cas. 1995). Effective January 31, 1990, Rule 902(3) was amended to make a technical change. 553-556 So. 2d XXVII (West Miss. Cas. 1990). Advisory Committee Note The language of Rule 902 has been amended as part of the general restyling of the Evidence Rules to make them more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. As before, Rule 902 uses numbered paragraphs as first-level formatting, rather than typical lower-case lettered subdivisions, because changing the structure of the Rule would disrupt electronic search results and thus impose transaction costs that outweigh any benefit in strictly consistent formatting. Rule 902(11) has been restructured with additional subparagraphs and items. These changes are intended to be stylistic only. There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.