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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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A comparison between the
old deed books and the new deed books.
more photos |
Curtis H. Douglas, Johnson County Clerk announces the County
Clerk’s document re-creation plan is fully underway. In January
2005, the County Clerk’s Office & ACS/GRS began the painstaking
process to preserve the counties oldest deed records, deed
indexes and Commissioner’s Court Minute Books by a process
called document re-creation. The process starts by filming
these books with 35mm film and then reprinting them to
re-created volumes. The film is preserved in a fire protected
vault with temperature and humidity controls. The re-created
volumes are then set out for public use, while the original
books are boxed up for future preservation by de-acidifying the
paper, and rebinding with mylar encapsulation.
These records date back to 1854, when the county was created.
The County Clerk’s Office is utilizing its Records Archive
Fund. These funds can only be used for the preservation of
County Clerk records filed prior to January 1, 1990. “Over the
years, these books, which date back 150 years, have begun to
deteriorate and we would not be able to perform this project had
it not been for State Senators Gallegos, Hinojosa and Lucio, who
authored and co-authored SB 1731in 2003.” Douglas stated.
“The next steps after all of these records are filmed and
preserved is to get the film digitized, indexed and placed on
the internet.” Douglas stated. Douglas added “this may take a
change with our software provider, but it is definitely in the
county’s future.”
In closing, Douglas stated “this has to be the biggest
preservation project the county has ever seen and we appreciate
all who helped make this become a reality.” |
