I would say it is surprising that people that stupid can get elected to public office, but unfortunately, we have a lot of stupid politicians.  That is how we end up with so many stupid laws.

Maybe you should stop in and have him look for some of these cases.  Just say, "Hey, I was wondering if you could check to see if there is foreclosure filed on John Smith."  I would think he would be forced to say "Gee, I can't say for sure because we have hundreds of cases indexed under 'Unknown heirs'..."  Maybe he would start to get the point, especially if every abstractor in Franklin County starts asking him to check.  You can all put a note on your searches for the client to call him at 555-555-5555 to inquire about the possibilities of any civil cases.

Who knows... It is just hard to fathom that somebody new to the office would change something that has work for over a hundred years! 

Good luck,
Robert A. Franco
SOURCE OF TITLE