Code of Virginia § 15.2-1412. Reproductions of records and documents and legal status thereof; destruction of originals.
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Any locality may provide for the photographing or microphotographing, or the recording by any other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for reproducing the original of all or any part of the papers, records, documents or other material kept by or in the charge of any department, agency or institution of such locality in accordance with such standards and retention schedules as may be issued in pursuance of § 42.1-82 .
A reproduction thereof if substantially the same size as the original, 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 the court. The introduction of a reproduced record, enlargement or facsimile, does not preclude admission of the original.
Whenever photographs or microphotographs have been made and put in conveniently accessible files, and provision has been made for preserving, examining and using the same, the locality may notify the Librarian of Virginia that it intends to destroy the records and papers so photographed or microphotographed, or any part thereof. If within sixty days the Librarian of Virginia has not notified the locality that such records or papers should be retained, the locality may destroy them.
A locality may also, in its discretion, consult with the locality's librarian with reference to the advisability of destroying any such records, papers, documents or other material because of any historical significance or value.
Code 1950, § 15-5.1; 1952, c. 289; 1958, c. 9; 1962, c. 623, § 15.1-8; 1966, c. 303; 1970, c. 225; 1979, c. 155; 1983, c. 419; 1997, c. 587; 1998, c. 427 ; 2012, c. 802 .