I agree totally Kevin. I believe the problem is the bulk distribution outside the bounds of local jurisdiction. The information has always been available to local residents or those willing to travel to the county where it was securely held and freely available. But no one ordered the local authorities to produce every record. They could have but the cost of reproducing the paper documents was prohibitive.

In the open records acts of Texas and every state I have seen their are clauses that say the government must release the public records in any format that is available to the clerks. Most include a clause that says this must be done at cost of reproduction.

Many county clerks and recorders offices have found themselves caught in this trap. They are only seeking a more efficient way of storing the documents and digital imaging certainly offers this. An estimated 10000 or more documents can be contained on a single disk. Cost of reproduction to the counties has been caculated at $7 a disk. So once the county clerk turns to digital imaging she can be compelled to produce in bulk all digitized images to anyone who makes the request. Once the documents are digitized the local authorities  loose total control over the documents they are responsible for.

I spoke with a local authority the other day who had attended a siminar where she met two county clerks who were very upset when they found out they had lost total control of their county records. My guess is there are many others but they are unlikely to speak out and admit they have been exploited in this way. They never intended to make targets of their constituents, but they have.

You are right Kevin, the time is now. Can you imagine if this had happened during World War Two when even American road maps were considered a security risk. Imagine a company announcing they would be mailing all their maps overseas for cheap processing. Imagine anyone going into the county courthouse at Los Alamos, NM and demanding the all the records of the citizens there? It could happen and will if this county images their records.

The current situation can be changed with a simple revision in the State and Federal Open Records laws that prohibits the busk digital transfer of the public record.