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Cal. GOV § 401

This is the official text of Cal. GOV § 401, part of California’s Government Code — covers the structure and operation of state and local government, including public employment and public records.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

Any document signed prior to August 27, 1937, by the Governor, the Secretary of State, or both of them and bearing an impression purporting to be an impression of the Great Seal of the State has the same validity as if the impression thereon were an impression of the Great Seal of the State, whether or not it be in fact the impression of the Great Seal of the State.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.