CHAP. 197.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 5 of chapter 172
of the Code of 1873, in relation to copies of records and papers in
public offices as evidence.

Approved February 25, 1880.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That section five of §
chapter one hundred and seventy-two of the Code of Virginia ¢
(edition of eighteen hundred and seventy-three) be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 5. A copy of any record or paper in the clerk’s office of y
any court, or in the office of the secretary of the common- ?
wealth, treasurer, register, or either auditor, attested by thee
officer in whose office the same is, and a copy of any such 4
record or: paper in the office of the board of public works, or
the board of education, or the board of supervisors of any
county, attested by the secretary or clerk of such board, and
a copy of any such record or paper in the office of surveyor of
lands of any county, attested by the surveyor in whose office
the same is, may be admitted as evidence in lieu of the original :
provided, that for good cause shown, the original records in ¥
the office of surveyor of lands of any county may be required
to be produced. And the certificate of the auditor of public ¢
accounts of the fact and time of the return of any real estate ®
as delinquent, or of the sale thereof for taxes, shall be prima ¢
facie evidence of what is stated in such certificate. Any such
copy or certificate, purporting te be sealed, or sealed and e
signed, or signed alone, by any such officer, secretary or clerk, ¢
may be admitted as evidence without any proof of the seal or ®
signature, or of the official character of the person whose
name is signed to it. The certificate of the auditor of public c
accounts of the payment or non-payment, at any time, of taxes |
on forfeited or delinquent lands or lots, or of their not having
been entered on the books of the commissioner of the revenue
for the county or counties, cities, or towns, or on the books of
the assessor of the township or townships wherein the same were
chargeable with taxes, shall, in any suit in relation to such
lands or lots, be prima facie evidence of what is stated in such
certificate : provided, it be filed with the papers of said suit at
least twenty days before the first day of the term at which it
is to be offered as evidence. When the certificate purports to
be signed by the said auditor, it may be admitted as evidence
without proof of his signature.
2. This act shall be in force from and after its passage.