Court-Grade Report Certificates

A Court-Grade Certificate is a document that provides cryptographic proof that a record has not been tampered with since a legal hold was placed.

It uses SHA-256 hashing - the same algorithm used by banks, governments, and blockchain systems - to create a unique "digital fingerprint" of the record data. If even a single character changes, the fingerprint changes completely.

Courts accept this as evidence because it's mathematically impossible to alter the data without changing the hash.

There are two ways to obtain a Court-Grade Certificate:

1. Compliance Package (Unlimited)
Subscribe to the Compliance Package and generate certificates instantly through Settings → Data Retention. This gives you unlimited certificates plus audit trail access and legal hold management.

2. One-Time Purchase ($25 per record)
Email support@fieldpad.app with your case reference number. We'll generate and send the certificate within 1-2 business days.

The Compliance Package is billed for the full calendar month.

If you only need occasional certificates, the one-time $25 option may be more cost-effective. If you anticipate regular legal requests, the Compliance Package provides better value with unlimited generation.

Every certificate includes a 6-character verification code. Anyone can verify the certificate at:

fieldpad.app/verify-legal-hold

No account is required. Enter the verification code to see:
• Whether the certificate is genuine
• The current integrity status (PASSED or FAILED)
• When the legal hold was placed
• Record type and agency name

This allows independent verification without relying on your word.

When you verify a certificate:

PASSED (Green) - The record's current hash matches the hash captured when the legal hold was placed. This proves the data has not been modified since the hold was set.

FAILED (Red) - The hashes don't match. This indicates the record was modified after the hold was placed, which should not be possible under normal circumstances and may indicate tampering.

Courts treat a PASSED result as strong evidence of data authenticity.

Court-Grade Certificates can be generated for any record under a legal hold, including:

• Report Submissions - Patrol reports, incident reports, inspection forms
• Vehicles - Permit records, registration data
• Violations - Parking tickets, violation notices
• Shifts & Check-ins - Officer shift records and lot check-ins
• Vehicle Alarms - Alert records
• Notices - Notice board entries

Essentially, any record that can have a legal hold placed on it can receive a certificate.

Yes. When you have multiple records under the same case reference (e.g., CASE-2024-001), you can:

1. Generate a Case Certificate - A single certificate verifying all records in that case

2. Download a Case PDF Bundle - All report submissions merged into one PDF for court submission

Courts can verify the entire case at once by entering the case reference at fieldpad.app/verify-legal-hold.

No, certificates don't expire. The verification code remains valid indefinitely.

Each certificate is proof that the record was unchanged from when the legal hold was placed to when the certificate was generated. That proof stands on its own.

The public verification portal also lets courts confirm the record is still unchanged at the time they check - providing additional real-time assurance if needed.