Also known as: official record · public records
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A hearsay exception that admits records or reports of public agencies setting forth factual findings from investigations conducted pursuant to legal authority. The exception extends to opinions and conclusions within such reports when the reports are trustworthy.
A hearsay exception that admits records or reports of public agencies setting forth factual findings from investigations conducted pursuant to legal authority. The exception extends to opinions and conclusions within such reports when the reports are trustworthy.
Odilia Okamura offered an NTSB investigative report containing both factual observations and the agency's conclusions about the cause of an aviation incident. The court admitted the report under the official records exception after confirming the investigation was authorized by law and the findings were trustworthy.
Documents maintained in public offices that provide constructive notice of interests in real property. Recording a satisfaction or discharge in the official records clears the mortgage lien once the underlying obligation is paid in full.
Oswald Orozco paid the final installment on his home loan to Olympus Banking. The bank executed a satisfaction document and filed it with the county recorder. Once entered in the official records, the mortgage lien was removed from the title, allowing Orozco to sell the property free of the encumbrance.
Olivia Owens paid off a senior mortgage held by Oakridge Manufacturing to protect her junior lien on the same parcel. Equity treated her as subrogated to the senior position. She recorded the assignment in the official records to ensure subsequent purchasers recognized her priority.
Documents maintained in public offices that provide constructive notice of interests in real property. Recording a satisfaction or discharge in the official records clears the mortgage lien once the underlying obligation is paid in full.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Otis Olsen offered a Navy investigative report containing factual observations and the board's conclusions about an aircraft accident. The court admitted the entire report under the official records exception after determining the findings resulted from a legally authorized investigation and were sufficiently trustworthy.
Ophelia O'Brien offered a police report describing observations made during an assault investigation. The court admitted the report under the official records exception after confirming the investigation was authorized by law and the findings were trustworthy, subject to separate confrontation analysis.
Otis Olsen introduced a Navy investigative report containing both factual observations and the board's conclusions about an aircraft accident. The court admitted the entire report under the official records exception after determining the findings resulted from a legally authorized investigation and were sufficiently trustworthy.
The exception covers both factual observations and factual findings, including opinions and conclusions, that result from investigations made pursuant to legal authority, provided the report meets trustworthiness requirements.
No. The privilege against self-incrimination does not extend to the official records of an organization because those records belong to the entity rather than to any individual.
Payment of the full debt entitles the mortgagor to a release. Recording the satisfaction document in the official records is required to remove the lien from the public title records and permit clear conveyance to subsequent purchasers.
When a payor is subrogated to a mortgage by operation of law, the payor may request a formal written assignment. Recording that assignment in the official records ensures that junior lienholders and subsequent purchasers recognize the subrogee's priority.
…its credit, the Court's analysis of "testimony" excludes at least some hearsay exceptions, such as business records and official records. See ante , at 56. To hold otherwise would require numerous additional witnesses without any apparent gain in the truth-seeking process. Likewise to the Court's credit is its implicit…