Preservation and destruction of Court of Appeal records

(a) Form or forms in which records may be preserved

(1) Court of Appeal records may be created, maintained, and preserved in any form or forms of communication or representation, including paper or optical, electronic, magnetic, micrographic, or photographic media or other technology, if the form or forms of representation or communication satisfy the standards or guidelines for the creation, maintenance, reproduction, and preservation of court records established under rule 10.854.

(2) If records are preserved in a medium other than paper, the following provisions of Government Code section 68150 apply: subdivisions (c)-(l), excluding subdivision (i)(1).

(b) Methods for signing, subscribing, or verifying documents

Any notice, order, ruling, decision, opinion, memorandum, certificate of service, or similar document issued by an appellate court or by a judicial officer of an appellate court may be signed, subscribed, or verified using a computer or other technology in accordance with procedures, standards, and guidelines established by the Judicial Council. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all notices, orders, rulings, decisions, opinions, memoranda, certificates of service, or similar documents that are signed, subscribed, or verified by computer or other technological means under this subdivision shall have the same validity, and the same legal force and effect, as paper documents signed, subscribed, or verified by an appellate court or a judicial officer of the court.

(c) Permanent records

The clerk/executive officer of the Court of Appeal must permanently keep the court's minutes and a register of appeals and original proceedings.

(d) Time to keep other records

(1) Except as provided in (2) and (3), the clerk/executive officer may destroy all other records in a case 10 years after the decision becomes final, as ordered by the administrative presiding justice or, in a court with only one division, by the presiding justice.

(2) Except as provided in (3), in a criminal case in which the court affirms a judgment of conviction in whole or in part, the clerk/executive officer must keep the original reporter's transcript or, if the original is in paper, either the original or a true and correct electronic copy of the transcript, for 20 years after the decision becomes final.

(3) In a felony case in which the court affirms a judgment of conviction in whole or in part, the clerk/executive officer must keep the original reporter's transcript or, if the original is in paper, either the original or a true and correct electronic copy of the transcript, for 75 years after the decision becomes final.