§ 1735. — Court record lost or destroyed where United States interested.
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and December 19, 2003]
[CITE: 28USC1735]
TITLE 28--JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
PART V--PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 115--EVIDENCE; DOCUMENTARY
Sec. 1735. Court record lost or destroyed where United States
interested
(a) When the record of any case or matter in any court of the United
States to which the United States is a party, is lost or destroyed, a
certified copy of any official paper of a United States attorney, United
States marshal or clerk or other certifying or recording officer of any
such court, made pursuant to law, on file in any department or agency of
the United States and relating to such case or matter, shall, on being
filed in the court to which it relates, have the same effect as an
original paper filed in such court. If the copy so filed discloses the
date and amount of a judgment or decree and the names of the parties
thereto, the court may enforce the judgment or decree as though the
original record had not been lost or destroyed.
(b) Whenever the United States is interested in any lost or
destroyed records or files of a court of the United States, the clerk of
such court and the United States attorney for the district shall take
the steps necessary to restore such records or files, under the
direction of the judges of such court.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 946.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Secs. 685, 686 (R.S. Secs. 903,
904; Jan. 31, 1879, ch. 39, Secs. 2, 3, 20 Stat. 277).
A provision of section 686 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating
to allowances to clerks and United States attorneys for their services,
and disbursements incidental to restoring lost records under such
section was deleted as obsolete, in view of sections 508, 509, and 604
of this title, placing such officers on a salary basis and providing for
their expenses.
Words ``And in all cases where any of the files, papers, or records
of any court of the United States have been or shall be lost or
destroyed, the files, records and papers which, pursuant to law, may
have been or may be restored or supplied in place of such records,
files, and papers, shall have the same force and effect, to all intents
and purposes, as the originals thereof would have been entitled to,'' at
the end of section 685 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., were omitted as
fully covered by the remainder of this section and by section 1734 of
this title.
Words ``or agency of the United States'' were substituted for ``of
the Government'' so as to eliminate any possible ambiguity as to the
scope of this section. See definitive section 451 of this title.
The phrase ``so far as the judges of such courts respectively shall
deem it essential to the interests of the United States that such
records and files be restored or supplied,'' was omitted as unnecessary.
Changes were made in phraseology.
