Recorder candidates disagree on access to records

The Cape Girardeau County recorder of deeds race is among the only contested county races that will appear on Tuesday's ballot.

Local archivist Drew Blattner faces incumbent Scott R. Clark in the primary election. Both candidates are Republicans.

Clark said when he took over the office in 2011, he did an assessment of what was working in the office and what needed to be improved. Some of the needs were obvious, he said.

The carpet was torn and rising in places where the glue no longer held it down. The bumps created a "trip hazard" for employees and visitors, Clark said. There was also a half-wall in the main area separating employee workstations from customers at the entrance that created a pathway so narrow, he said wheelchair access was nearly impossible.

Clark went to the county with his concerns and received approval for what he said were maintenance and safety needs. The renovation was not for redecorating purposes, he said, although that allegation has been made by some. The half-wall was removed, the carpet in the front area replaced with tile and new carpet laid in the back where records are housed.

Scott R. Clark

The records also were placed for safekeeping in new shelves. Land and marriage records previously were kept in large shelves that stopped just inches from the ceiling sprinkler -- which Clark said didn't conform to fire codes -- and shelves were not affixed to the wall. They now are kept in mobile shelving, which is fitted with wheeled traction systems, allowing them to move at the turn of an exterior rotary handle. When fitted, the top is sealed to prevent water from seeping in if the sprinkler activates.

Tax lien records, once packed so tightly in drawers they could hardly be removed, were placed in new hanging file cabinets Clark said he got for free. The old cabinets were sold. Other pieces of furniture were given to county offices and the county archive center, he said.

Among other improvements in the office is the online availability of public records. It's an issue both candidates say is important and the practice should be continued until all of them are accessible from personal computers.

Blattner said his biggest interest in life is genealogy and history, and he's spent years traveling to other states and counties for research. He said he wants to help people who come to Cape Girardeau get easy access to records when doing their own historical research.

For 13 years, he said the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, where he's worked since 2007, has helped people access old marriage licenses. They're kept in acid-free boxes and folders, and when a visitor came with a request, archive staff would pull the document and lay it on a table for visitors to view or make copies of the record. Because it's the original record, Blattner said the marriage certificates may come with information such as dates of birth, parental consent for those who were underage and even a small story with family information. These additions are not available at the recorder's office, he said.

But since January, Blattner said the archive center has stopped pulling these records at the request of the recorder's office. The archivist said he believes it's wrong to cut off access to public records at the archive center, but Clark said those records are stored there for an important purpose. Despite the transition to digital files, he said it also is important to have backups, which he has across the street from his office at the archive center.

"As the custodian of records, it's my responsibility to keep that second copy across the street to protect the integrity of the records," said Clark. "That way, I know if something happens to the office here, the records are safe over there."

That practice is used by other county recorders in the state as well. Greene County Recorder of Deeds Cheryl Dawson said if someone comes to her county to view or copy a marriage license, he or she must go through the recorder's office.

"The ones that are stored in the archives, we don't want anybody getting into those because, of course, the more you handle them, the more they break down," she said. "So they're being stored there for safekeeping."

There also are state laws that outline the roles and responsibilities of the recorder's office, including a 2010 revised statute that reads: "All requests for records filed or recorded by the recorder of deeds under this chapter dated after December 31, 1969, shall be made to the office of the recorder of deeds in which the record was originally recorded."

Blattner argues because the statute makes no specification about records older than 1970, the archive center should make them available to the public upon request.

"Basically, this statute only governs the records from 1970 forward," he said. "Before that, from 1969 back to the very beginning of the county's record keeping, those records do not have to be gotten specifically from the recorder's office."

Blattner also points out the archive's employees are trained in document preservation and observing customers as they view records; only employees are allowed to access the back room and pull records. They also are not the only place where backup records are stored, he said, pointing to microfilm kept at the archive center, the recorder's office and the Missouri Secretary of State's office.

"There are many copies of the microfilm records," said Blattner. "Microfilm is actually considered a permanent record, just as the paper copy is. Microfilm has a shelf life of 500 years, so it's not just something that's going to go bad."

Clark said there's been a past instance where a document couldn't be located at either the recorder's office or the archive center, and that "a missing record is not an option for us." If someone requested access to a record only available at the archive center, Clark said he could simply obtain a copy for them himself.

"I have a legal and moral obligation to protect the integrity of these records and that's best done by keeping duplicate records," he said.

But Blattner said he's had customers come into the archive center disappointed they only received a copy from the marriage record books that featured just the basic information and not the extras available with the original document.

"When someone drives here from California, they expect to see the original record, not a summary of it," he said. "Some people plan their whole trip around genealogical research."

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

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