Re: PROBATE RECORDS
ALL RESIDENTS OF WAPELLO COUNTY, PAST AND PRESENT
Posted By: Dean A. Glenn (email) In Response To: PROBATE RECORDS (Mary)
Date: 10/9/2004 at 23:56:45
Linda and all others-
With all due respect, which is absolutely none, Gloria is a outright liar. In early January, 2004, I called in search of a probate file from 1877 which had been viewed by another family member last in 1979. When I was told the same thing you all have been told, I was stunned. First off, the records ARE NOT THE PROPERTY OF THE COURT!! THEY ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE PEOPLE, and the court is merely the assigned custodian of those records. Secondly, the filming IS NOT being done on the premises, as you have been told. The LDS people AND the IGS people have both willfully informed me that the records were currently in OREM UTAH (WHY WOULD THE COURT NEED TO BOX UP THE RECORDS IF THEY WEREN'T BEING SHIPPED SOMEWHERE?!!)where they were awaiting filming. When I confronted Gloria about this blatant violation of 7 different IOWA STATE LAWS regarding the custody, release, and use of PUBLIC RECORDS, and violated the US Constitutional guarantee of access to public records, she told me that she knew, but Wapello County was forced to do whatever they could to raise money just to operate. I immediately filed a complaint with the Iowa Attorney General's office, from whom I have received absolutely NO RESPONSE. I guess they are under the impression that if you ignore a problem it will go away.
Under Iowa law, no clerk of the court, employee of the county or of the court, nor any other person may remove records from the premises for any cause whatsoever. Further, no clerk, employee, nor other person may relinquish custody of any records to any person, or permit records to be removed from their physical custody and control for any reason whatsoever. ALL FILES AT ALL TIMES ARE TO BE IMMEDIATELY AND READILY ACCESSIBLE FOR REVIEW TO ANY PERSON REQUESTING SAID FILE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ON-PREMISE REVIEW. AT NO TIME SHOULD THERE BE CAUSE FOR ANY FILE WHATSOEVER TO BE INACCESSIBLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. In addition, a clerk, employee or other person must allow on-premise inspection and copying of the files at will under the condition that the file does not leave the area. NO CUSTODIAN OF PUBLIC RECORDS MAY TRANSFER CUSTODY OF THOSE RECORDS TO A THIRD PARTY FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPLETING ANY PROCEDURE RELATED TO ARCHIVAL OF THE RECORDS, or for the purpose of fulfilling the duties of the custodian to preserve and maintain those records.
IF FOR ANY REASON YOU DOUBT THAT WHAT IS GOING ON IN OTTUMWA IS A CLEAR AND BLATANT VIOLATION OF IOWA LAW PLEASE GO TO THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE AND READ THE LAW YOURSELF.
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2003SUPPLEMENT/22/
This link takes you to the Iowa General Assembly's (legislature's)website where the Iowa Code is posted. Gloria and the commissioners of Wapello County, and anyone else in a position of authority or responsibility who allowed this to occur should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I can personally vouch for the fact that this has been ongoing since prior to January, and that this is the reason that public access to the records of Wapello County have been further restricted by the reduction of the hours in which the Clerk's office is open to the public. That is another clear violation of IOWA CODE. The code sets forth that the clerk's office and thus the records must be accessible to the public on business days, during business hours, and that those hours must not be restricted in any way.
What is occurring in Ottumwa and other small, poor counties across the US is nothing short of total dereliction of duty and the compromising of the verity and accuracy of the public records by the releasing of those records to third parties for filming or for any other cause. While I appreciate the efforts of the LDS and its associated Family History Libraries, that entity, NOR ANY OTHER ENTITY is entitled to do what they are doing. Probate records are for the most part, a popular and interesting aspect of genealogy, and they are generally considered optional to family history research. However, they are a VITAL reference resource for anyone needing to establish or prove land ownership and rights. This classifies them as such that under no condition should they ever leave the custody of the court clerk. Finally, PROBATE FILES are the property of the DISTRICT COURT if any court wants to be so ignorant as to claim ownership of those files- NOT THE COUNTY COURT. This causes the probate records to fall under the jurisdiction of FEDERAL LAW as well, and pursuant to US Code, the actions taken by Gloria and all others are FEDERAL FELONIES, and charges should be pursued by every person who cares about the rights to access public records.
I have not even addressed the fact that the "grant" given to Wapello County for the privilege to film the records, whether onsite, which is not the case, or in Orem Utah, is bribery of a public official and an officer of the court, that it also constitutes the subrogation of every citizen's constitutional rights in favor of $50,000. In other words, Gloria is laughing in your face, as she did in mine earlier this year, and telling you that your right to access those records is not as important as the $50,000 that they received and placed in the County's general fund. That money probably didn't even cover the overtime hours that were paid to box up the records or in bonuses to Gloria for her "good work" in securing the funds for the county by violating every law concerning the custody and control of public records.If we let her get away with this today, what will we not have tomorrow? What constitutional rights will be arbitrarily violated by scofflaws like her the day after that??
DEAN A. GLENN
PS. THE FILE I WAS IN SEARCH OF HAS COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED, ACCORDING TO GLORIA. THAT WAS AFTER SHE SEARCHED IN THE SIDE ROOM (or the Jail cell, or the Archives warehouse, depending on who she is talking to and what story she feels like telling them that day) FOR THE FILE FOR OVER A WEEK, but she told me to call the IGS to see if they may have it. NOW HOW IN THE HELL WOULD THEY GET IT???
http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/Sunshine_adv/04_April_s
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