A county keeps a file of property deeds and official notices describing real estate transactions. This is an example of which Rule 803 subsection?

A county keeps a file of property deeds and official notices describing real estate transactions. This is an example of which Rule 803 subsection?

• A. Ancient documents
• B. Public records
• C. Present sense impression
• D. Recorded recollection

Answer: (B)

Public records are records kept by a public office describing the activities of the office or matters observed in the performance of official duties. A county file of property deeds and official notices is produced and maintained by the public office responsible for recording real estate transactions, so it fits squarely within the public records exception. It’s the kind of routine, official record that the government maintains for public access and accountability. The other options don’t fit: ancient documents require a different longstanding age criterion not tied to a public office’s routine records; present sense impression is a contemporaneous description of an event; recorded recollection involves a witness’s memory recorded after the fact.

Public records are records kept by a public office describing the activities of the office or matters observed in the performance of official duties. A county file of property deeds and official notices is produced and maintained by the public office responsible for recording real estate transactions, so it fits squarely within the public records exception. It’s the kind of routine, official record that the government maintains for public access and accountability. The other options don’t fit: ancient documents require a different longstanding age criterion not tied to a public office’s routine records; present sense impression is a contemporaneous description of an event; recorded recollection involves a witness’s memory recorded after the fact.