Preserving the Past, Informing the Future	Skip Navigation Links
Home About Hours & Locations Directions State Library Building, Hartford Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped Middletown Library Service Center Willimantic Library Service Center State Records Center Van Block Facility Contact Us Directory Ask A Librarian Using the Library Borrowing Materials Collections Use of Offsite & Secured Collections Policies for Patrons Copies, Copiers & Change About Us Governance State Library Board Advisory Boards Office of the State Librarian Employment Opportunities Events News & Publications CT Heritage Foundation Find Information Catalog Digital Collections Subject Index to Resources Finding Aids Research Databases Ask a Librarian Government Information For State Agencies Federal Documents State Documents Digital Archive History & Genealogy Connecticut History Links Genealogy Links History & Genealogy Unit Finding Aids Law & Legislation Bill Room Connecticut Law Links Legislative Histories Public & Special Acts, Statutes Westlaw (in Library only) Public Records & State Archives State Archives Forms, Guidelines & Publications Public Records Management Program Workshops & Training Historic Documents Preservation Grant Program Contact Us Directory Contact Us / Ask A Librarian

Certification of Documents

The Connecticut State 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 CSL.
• 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 CSL.

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 CSL Photoduplication staff.

Revised June 2009.