Document Certification

The Library certifies copies of selected documents as “a true copy of a record” in accordance with Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 11-4c. Preservation of official documents in State Library.

Certification consists of:

  • Certification attestation page, listing the document being certified, signed and dated by the librarian.
  • An embossed gold seal on the certification attestation page.
  • Embossing on the first page of the document.

All pages of the document as listed on the attestation page are considered certified by this process.

Each certification is for one document. We do not certify multiple documents on one certificate.

Only items given into the custody of the State Librarian for deposit in the State Library can be certified.

Accordingly, State Library staff may certify copies of documents such as:

  • Bar Applications
  • Divorce Records
  • General Assembly hearings and proceedings, originals
  • Probate Files
  • Other original records given into the custody of the State Librarian for deposit at the Library.
  • Official reports of government bodies

And may not certify:

  • Newspaper articles
  • Pages from family genealogies
  • Anything from electronic resources
  • Other items that are not original records given into the custody of the State Librarian for deposit at the Library.

Certification Fee

As approved by the State Library Board (April 16, 2001), the certification fee is $1.00.

Specific examples:

  • Copies of House proceedings and Senate proceedings are considered separate documents, each requiring separate certification.
  • The transcripts of each Committee’s hearings in a legislative session are considered one document, since they are continuously paginated. The certification fee is $1.00 per Committee per legislative history.
  • If patron has copies of two or more probate files certified, the fee is $1.00 for each file.
  • When multiple documents are copied and certified from one box of archival materials, a separate certification sheet is required for each document, at $1.00 each.

Certification fees are in addition to copy fees. Staff can certify staff-made copies, copies made by patrons under their supervision, or copies made by the Library’s Photoduplication staff.