Miriam, do you know who is behind this bill? It sounds like an attempt to force legitimate local professionals out of the courthouse and at the same time allow foreign companies to suck whole repositories of taxpayer records out of the control of local officials for little to no cost. I notice the bill excludes computer time from the calculation so any foreign entity can demand electronic transfer of millions of records for $20 or less.

The repository of records stored at the county belong to the people of that county. For many counties it is their single greatest asset. For centuries, local taxpayers have paid their elected officials to collect and preserve it. It brings a steady stream of income into county and supports local professionals doing legitimate work.

This truly is a nightmare bill for local professionals AND for local officials and taxpayers. For national and international entities who traffic in “public” records, it is a dream come true.

Have you spoken to local officials about this plan to force them to sell off county assets for pennies?