Photographic Copies of Business and Public Records.
§ 8‑45.1. Photographic reproductions admissible; destruction of originals.
(a) If any business, institution, member of a profession or calling, or any department or agency of government, in the regular course of business or activity has kept or recorded any memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation, X ray or combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence or event, and in the regular course of business has caused any or all of the same to be recorded, copied or reproduced by any photographic, photostatic, microfilm, microcard, miniature photographic, or other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for so reproducing the original, the original may be destroyed in the regular course of business unless held in a custodial or fiduciary capacity or unless its preservation is required by law. Such reproduction, when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding whether the original is in existence or not and an enlargement or facsimile of such reproduction is likewise admissible in evidence if the original reproduction is in existence and available for inspection under direction of court. The introduction of a reproduced record, enlargement or facsimile, does not preclude admission of the original.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall apply to records stored on any form of permanent, computer‑readable media, such as a CD‑ROM, if the medium is not subject to erasure or alteration. Nonerasable, computer‑readable storage media may be used for preservation duplicates, as defined in G.S. 132‑8.2, or for the preservation of permanently valuable records as provided in G.S. 121‑5(d). (1951, ch. 262, s. 1; 1977, ch. 569; 1999‑131, s. 1; 1999‑456, s. 47(a); 2011‑326, s. 13(b).)
§ 8‑45.2. Uniformity of interpretation.
This Article shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose of making uniform the law of those states which enact it. (1951, c. 262, s. 2.)
§ 8‑45.3. Photographic reproduction of records of Department of Revenue and Division of Employment Security.
(a) The State Department of Revenue is hereby specifically authorized to have photographed, photocopied, or microphotocopied all records of the Department, including tax returns required by law to be made to the Department, and said photographs, photocopies, or microphotocopies, when certified by the Department as true and correct photographs, photocopies, or microphotocopies, shall be as admissible in evidence in all actions, proceedings and matters as the originals thereof would have been.
(a1) The Division of Employment Security is hereby specifically authorized to have photographed, photocopied, or microphotocopied all records of the Division, including filings required by law to be made to the Division, and said photographs, photocopies, or microphotocopies, when certified by the Division as true and correct photographs, photocopies, or microphotocopies, shall be as admissible in evidence in all actions, proceedings, and matters as the originals thereof would have been.
(b) The provisions of this section shall apply to records stored on any form of permanent, computer‑readable media, such as a CD‑ROM, if the medium is not subject to erasure or alteration. Nonerasable, computer‑readable storage media may be used for preservation duplicates, as defined in G.S. 132‑8.2, or for the preservation of permanently valuable records as provided in G.S. 121‑5(d). (1951, c. 262, s. 3; 1999‑131, s. 2; 1999‑456, s. 47(b); 2001‑115, s. 1; 2011‑326, s. 13(c); 2011‑401, s. 3.2.)
This Article may be cited as the "Uniform Photographic Copies of Business and Public Records as Evidence Act." (1951, c. 262, s. 4.)