F R O M T H E C L E R K O F C O U R T & C O M P T R O L L E R V i c t o r D. C r i s t –
H i l l s b o r o u g h C o u n t y C l e r k o f C o u r t & C o m p t r o l l e r continuedfrompage14
But preservation of existing media is not nearly enough. A record preserved on microfilm has a finite shelf life and is far less useful than one that can be retrieved electronically. To date, we have digitized more than 1,463 rolls of historic microfilm. The office recently began another substantial project involving approximately 1,266 rolls, some containing records dating to the 1800s.
Marriage licenses from 1846 to the present are already available online, along with deeds, liens, judgments, plat maps, and other Official Records. Now materials that once required a courthouse visit and a search through microfilm can be accessed from your office or kitchen table.
Ironically, while preserving millions of Hillsborough County documents, we discovered that one small collection was noticeably incomplete— our own history. There was surprisingly little consolidated documentation about many of our past Clerks. Rather than leave that gap in the record, our team members launched a project in 2024 to identify former Clerks, document their years of service, and locate supporting materials. The result is a newly assembled record of 37 former Clerks, including photos, signatures, and seals spanning 180 years.
In all likelihood, our ongoing update of records will reveal other gaps or inconsistencies in the record, providing opportunities for increasing the quality of our archives as a resource for historians and the legal community.
Preserving Clerks’ histories represents only a small fraction of our modernization effort, but it illustrates a larger point: Public records do not preserve themselves. Every electronic record rests on an infrastructure, including people, responsible for receiving, recording, indexing, safeguarding, digitizing, and providing access to information that must remain reliable for decades or even centuries.
Tools and media have changed dramatically over the years, but our obligation to serve the public has not. Keeping a record is only the beginning. The real value is being able to find it when someone needs it. n
N O V- D E C 2 0 2 6 | H C B A L A W Y E R
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