ARCHIVIST OF THE HAUL OF RECORDS 51

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

An opinion of extreme importance to the Hall of Records was handed
down last year by the Attorney General of Maryland. Even before the initia-
tion of our records management program, in 1953, the Archivist had been
consulted by the Comptroller whenever he received a request from a Clerk of
Court or a Register of Wills for the purchase of recordkeeping equipment or
services. The procedure became fixed and routine after the passage of the Re-
cords Management Law in 1953. While no law required the Comptroller to
accept our advice as to whether a given clerk needed a microfilm camera or
a new land record index, in practice our recommendation, made after an in-
quiry in the courthouse and a written report, was followed. The opinion given
here below resulted from a request of this kind by the Clerk of the Court of
Cecil County.

The Bar Association of that county had asked for an improvement in the
land record indexes. The Resident Judge felt that the request was justified
and had ordered the Clerk to change the system then in use to the Gott Family
Name system after December 31, 1956, and also to have the land records rein-
dexed by that system as far back as 1918. The cost of this project was set at
something over $27,000. When the Clerk of the Court requested the Comp-
troller to permit him to pay for this project from the excess fees of his office,
his request was referred to the Hall of Records. We agreed to the changeover
for new recordings, but we did not feel that the reindexing was justified and
we recommended that it be denied. The Clerk of the Court then appealed to
the Attorney General who found that under the section of the Code concerned
with the Clerks of Court there was nothing to prevent his purchasing the
index. As matters stand now, those clerks with excess fees of office (and only
those clerks) are free to purchase indexing equipment and services to the full
amount of these excess fees if the expenditure is approved by the Court. Nei-
ther the Comptroller nor the Hall of Records will exercise any control unless,
of course, the situation is altered by legislation.