THE A~TORNEYGENERAL
OF YlyExAs
WILL WILSON
AITORNEY GENERAI.
July 24, 1962
Honorable Jules Damlani, Jr. Opinion No. WW-1399
Criminal District Attorney
Galveston County Re : Whether, under Article
Galveston, Texas 657&b, Vernon’s Civil
Statutes, original deed
records, deed of trust
records, mechanic Is lien
records and minute books
may be removed from the
County Clerk’s vaults for
the purpose of storage In
a bonded warehouse locat-
ed in the County seat,
after the said records
have been microfilmed,
Dear Mr. Damiani: and alternative question.
You have requested the opinion of the Attorney General
with regard to the following questions:
1. After deed records, deed of trust records, mechanic’s
lien records and minute books of any Courts have been
microfilmed in accordance with the provlnfons of Arti-
cle 6574b, may the original bound volumes be removed
from the Clerk’s vaults for the purpose of storage in
a bonded warehouse located in the County seat?
2. In the alternative, could the storage facllltles pro-
vided for legal records fn the new County Court House,
for the benefit of the public, house only microfilm
reproductions of all deed records, deed of trust re-
cords, mechanic’s lien records and any minute books
of any Courts for prior years only, and the original
bound volumes be atored in another building nominally
designated as a sub-office of the County Clerk or
District Clerk in ‘~space which would be under the sole
ju;u;$iction and control of such County or District
The pertinent portions of Article 6574b are set forth be-
low:
“Sectfon 1. The Commissioners Court of
any county in Texas, or the governing body of
Honorable Jules Damlani, Jr., pa,ge 2:. ofw-1399 1
any political subdivision of Texas, may, at
Its discretion, order, authorize and provide
for the duplication of all public records by
photostatic, photographic, ,miniat,ure photo-
graphic, film microfilm or micro-photographic
process which correctly and legibly copies and
reproduces, or which forms a medium of copying
or reproducing, such public records, when, in
the judgment of a’commissioners Court, or of
the governing body of any political subdivision
of Texas, a necessity exists for the photographic
duplication of said public records for th,? pur-
pose of recording, preserving and protecting
same, or for the purpose of reducing space re-
quired for filing, storing and safekeeping of
same, or for any similar purpose.”
“Sec. 4. Said photographic duplicates of
all public records shall be placed in convenlent-
ly accessible files and provisions shall be made
for preserving, safekeeping, using, examining,
exhibiting, projecting and enlarging the same when-
ever requested during regular office hours. When-
ever photographic duplicates of public records
are so made, certified and placed, the originai
publics records may be , ~by order of the Commissioners
Court of the county, or of the governing body of
any political subdivision of Texas, destroyed or
otherwise disposed of, provided, however, that no
original record shall be destroyed OP otherwise
disposed of unless or’until the time for filing
legal proceedings based on any such record shall
have elapsed, and, in no event, shall any originai
public record be destroyed or otherwise disposed
of until said public record Is at least five (5;
years old; and provided further, that notice of
such proposed destruction or disposition of original
public records shall first be given to the State
Librarian, and If such records are, in his opinion,
needed for the Texas State Library, they shall be
transferred thereto in the manner provided in Artl-
cle 5439, l?evised Civil Statutes, 1925.”
“Sec. 5. Nothing in this Act shall authorize
the destruction or disposition of any deed record,
deed of trust record, mechanic’s lien record or any
. 1
Honorable Jules Damiani, Jr., page 3. (ww-1399)
minute book of any Court or any minute book of any
political subdivision of Texas."
This statute clearly authorizes the reproduction of records of
the type in question here. It is equally obvious that Section
5 precludes any destruction or disposition of these original
records once they have been reproduced on microfilm. This is
not to say, however, that the statute demands that these origi-
nal records continue to be kept in the vaults of the County
Clerk, for such a holding would render the statute purposeless
with regard to these particular records,
Article 6574b, Section 5, forbids any destruction or
disposition of deed records, deed of trust records, mechanic's
lien records and minute books. Black's Law Dictionary deffnes
the word "dlsposltlon" as follows: "The parting with, alienation
of, or giving up property, ' "a destruction of property." It would
thus appear that the Clerk would be permitted to make any arrange-
ment desired for these old original records, so long as some ele-
ment of control was retained over them. So long as the mlcro-
filmed records are available to the public in the office of the
Clerk, and reasonable access may be had to the original records
in case of need, it is the opinion of this office that the records
may be stored.at any place located in the County seat, under
such terms and conditions deemed sufficient for their safeguard
as may be set by the Clerk-and the Commissioners Court.
SUMMARY
Under the authority of Article 6574b,
Vernon's Civil Statutes, deed records,
deed of trust records, mechanic's
lien records and minute books may
be microfilmed. The original reoords
may not then be destroyed, but may be
stored at any place located in the
County seat, under such terms and
conditions deemed sufficient for thefr
, .
Honorable Jules Damlani, Jr., page 4. ow-1399 1
safeguard as may be set by the County
Cler>k and the Commissioners Court,
Yours very truly,
WILL WILSClN
Attorney General of Texas
Malcolm L. Quick
MLQ:ms:zt Assistant
APPROBED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chaafrman
L. P. Lollar
Henry Braswell
Ernest Fortenberry
Frank R. Booth
REVIEWEDFOR THE ATTQRhXY GENERAL
BY: Leonard Passmore