The record of a conveyance of real property, or any other record, a transcript of which is admissible in evidence, must not be removed from the office where it is kept, except upon the order of a Court, in cases where the inspection of the record is shown to be essential to the just determination of the cause or proceeding pending, or where the Court is held in the same building with such office.
§ 1950.Public records; removal on court order
Title 2. Of the Kinds and Degrees of Evidence · Chapter 3. Writings · Article 3. Private Writings · Last amended 1873 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1950 keeps the official record of a real property conveyance, or any other record whose transcript is admissible in evidence, from being removed from the office where it's kept, unless a court orders removal because inspection is essential or the court sits in the same building.
Full Text of § 1950
Plain-English Summary
Public records like conveyances of real property are valuable exactly because they stay put where anyone entitled to inspect them can find them, and this section protects that reliability. The record of a conveyance, or any other record whose transcript can be used as evidence, has to stay in the office where it's kept.
There are two narrow exceptions. A court can order the record removed when inspecting it is essential to deciding the case or proceeding pending before that court, or removal is unnecessary in the first place because the court is housed in the same building as the office holding the record. Outside those situations, the record doesn't leave.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a public record like a deed be taken out of the recorder's office?
Generally no, unless a court orders it removed because inspecting it is essential to a pending case, or the court sits in the same building as the office.
Why does this section restrict moving official records?
To keep records like conveyances reliably available in one place for anyone who needs to inspect or rely on them.
What kind of records beyond real property conveyances does this section cover?
Any record whose transcript would be admissible in evidence, not just conveyances of real property.
Amendment History
(Enacted in 1872. Amended Code Am.1873-74, c. 383, p. 387, § 236.)
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: removing public records from recorder officecourt order to inspect original record