{"data":{"id":"us-ky/kre-901","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRE 901","heading":"Requirement of authentication or identification","body":"(a) General provision.  The requirement of authentication or identification as a\ncondition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a\nfinding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.\n(b) Illustrations.  By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, the\nfollowing are examples of authentication or identification conforming with the\nrequirements of this rule:\n(1) Testimony of witness with knowledge.  Testimony that a matter is what it is\nclaimed to be.\n(2) Nonexpert testimony on handwriting.  Nonexpert opinion as to the\ngenuineness of handwriting, based upon familiarity not acquired for the\npurposes of litigation.\n(3) Comparison by trier or expert witness. Comparison by the trier of fact or by\nexpert witnesses with specimens which have been authenticated.\n(4) Distinctive characteristics and the like. Appearance, contents, substance,\ninternal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with\ncircumstances.\n(5) Voice identification.   Identification of a voice, whether heard firsthand or\nthrough mechanical or electronic transmission or recording, by opinion based\nupon hearing the voice at any time under circumstances connecting it with the\nalleged speaker.\n(6) Telephone conversations.  Telephone conversations, by evidence that a call\nwas made to the number assigned at the time by the telephone company to a\nparticular place or business if:\n(A) In the case of a person, circumstances, including self -identification,\nshow the person answering to be the one called; or\n(B) In the case of a business, the call was made to a place of business and\nthe conversation related to business reasonably transacted over the\nphone.\n(7) Public records or reports.  Evidence that a writing authorized by law to b e\nrecorded or filed and in fact recorded or filed in a public office, or a purported\npublic record, report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, is from the\npublic office where items of this nature are kept.\n(8) Ancient documents or data compilatio n.  Evidence that a document or data\ncompilation, in any form:\n(A) Is in such condition as to create no suspicion concerning its authenticity;\n(B) Was in a place where it, if authentic, would likely be; and\n(C) Has been in existence twenty (20) years or more at the time it is offered.\n(9) Process or system.  Evidence describing a process or system used to produce a\nresult and showing that the process or system produces an accurate result.\n(10) Methods provided by  statute or rule.  Any method of authentication or\nidentification provided by act of the General Assembly or by rule prescribed\nby the Supreme Court of Kentucky.","path":["KENTUCKY RULES OF EVIDENCE ----- Legislative Research Commission Note (7/1/92). Although denominated \"rules,\" the elements of the Kentucky Rules of Evidence were enacted as statutes by the Kentucky General Assembly. See 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 88; 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324. Originally codified as KRS Chapter 422A in 1990, the Kentucky Rules of Evidence were renumbered by the Reviser of Statutes, effective July 1, 1992, pursuant to 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324, sec. 34. By an order dated May 12, 1992, the Kentucky Supreme Court \"adopt[ed] so much of the Kentucky Rules of Evidence as enacted by HB 241 [1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324] as comes within the rule making power of the Court, pursuant to Ky. Const. sec. 116.\""],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=20414","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:11Z","sha256":"a27c714486c57fc67e4221266331bd482be59a76c49e565bd720a4f65f845064","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/kre-806","next":"us-ky/kre-902"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}