You know, I thought that was strange too, that they "destroyed" them, but when I questioned her, she said - if it's not paid in ten years, the file is history, and nobody will ever see it again, we destroy it.  Makes me feel like I maybe need to get a different person on the phone and see if I get the same story.  Modern technology makes it very easy to store old files !  The more I think about it, the more I think I'm gonna ask another gen. dist. court employee next time I am there.