Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act

One thing to keep in mind about the South Carolina Rules of Evidence is that they are not all located in the rules. Rather, there are several rules located in statutes.

One of these statutory rules is S.C. Code 19-5-510 "Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act." Under Rule 803(6), business records are allowed in as an exception to hearsay, but the proponent of these records must provide testimony from the records custodian that these records were properly stored and maintained. But what about certifications or affidavits from the custodian so that they don't have to testify in person? The UBRE Act allows for this. It mirrors Federal Rule of Evidence 902(11), which allows for a certification by the custodian that the records comply with 803.

The custodian of record and 803 can be confusing because the UBRE Act is not specifically mentioned in the rules.