As used in this article “record” includes all or any part of any judgment, decree, order, document, paper, process, or file.
§ 1953.“Record’’ defined
Title 2. Of the Kinds and Degrees of Evidence · Chapter 3. Writings · Article 4. Records Destroyed in Fire or Calamity · Enacted 1953 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1953 defines the term record, for purposes of this article on records destroyed by fire or calamity, to include all or any part of a judgment, decree, order, document, paper, process, or file.
Full Text of § 1953
Plain-English Summary
Before Article 4 lays out how a court reconstructs a lost official record, this opening section makes sure everyone knows what counts as a record in the first place. It's a deliberately broad definition: a judgment, decree, order, document, paper, process, or file, or any part of any of these, all qualify.
That breadth matters because a county's official files after a fire or calamity rarely come back as tidy, whole documents. A partially burned judgment roll or a scorched fragment of a court file still counts as a record this article can help reconstruct, not just a complete, undamaged item.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does record mean under Article 4?
All or any part of a judgment, decree, order, document, paper, process, or file.
Does a partially destroyed document still count as a record under this article?
Yes. The definition explicitly includes any part of these items, not only complete ones.
Why does this article need its own definition of record?
To make clear the reconstruction procedure that follows reaches the full range of court records a fire or calamity might destroy, not a narrower category.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.1953, c. 52, p. 712, § 14.)
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
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