from The Clarion-Ledger, March 2, 2005
WELCOME TO THE 'BLACK HOLE'
Office flooded with evidence
Boxes, files stacked in makeshift storage, circuit clerk says
By Jimmie E. Gates
Like the justice system itself, storage of evidence in criminal and civil cases in Hinds County has become makeshift.
Each box claims squatter's rights on whatever bare patch of floor is available in the circuit clerk's office.
Evidence from one trial is against a wall; another box resides near a public computer.
In the evidence vault, five bottles of unopened whiskey stand in a box on the floor near the entrance, and as far as the eye can focus, items and files - in no particularly order - take up all available space.
"Nine out of 10 times you can't find what you're looking for," Hinds County Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn said of locating evidence stored in the vault, referred to by some as the "black hole."
Judges and others have reported files occasionally are lost or misplaced.
In one case involving a civil lawsuit from 1994, the file slated to go to the state Supreme Court had to be reconstructed.
Alwyn Luckey, an Ocean Springs lawyer who worked for Pascagoula lawyer Dickie Scruggs on asbestos lawsuits, sued Scruggs and Jackson lawyer William Roberts Wilson in Hinds County Circuit Court. Luckey filed a second suit in Hinds County in April 1997. Both suits maintain he is entitled to some of the fees paid to lawyers like Scruggs who worked on the state's landmark case against the tobacco industry because earnings from the asbestos litigation helped to fund that fight.
His argument was rejected, and he appealed to the state Supreme Court in 2001. But when the case file had to be sent to the high court, none of the evidence and information was in chronological order, said Luckey's attorney, Charles Merkelof of Clarksdale.
"It took weeks and months to reassemble the record," he said.
Dunn, whose office is responsible for Circuit and County Court record-keeping, said her evidence vault is full as are two holding tanks once used to house prisoners and now used to store evidence.
Also, Dunn stores records in a fourth-floor area of the courthouse.
Asked if she needed more space for storing evidence and files, Dunn responded, "Just look around."
She pointed to boxes with evidence and files from trials sitting in the open in the clerk's office and to an area of criminal and civil files resembling a maze.
One of Dunn's deputy clerks, Ann Giles, said the office could use a building of its own. "If we had the Coliseum, we could fill it up," she said.
Dunn said her office has begun to place some older files on disks, but getting authority to destroy the older paper files requires a judge's approval as well as the Department of Archives and History.
Bill Hanna, director of local government records at Archives and History, said a local government just has to make a request to the department to destroy records.
"When we get a request, we make sure they can do it legally," Hanna said.
Hanna said the length of time required to keep a governmental record varies depending on the type. Hanna said some governments continue to store records that they aren't required to keep.
Hinds County had joined with the Dayton, Ohio-based LexusNexus to implement an electronic filing system. State Supreme Court approval of a rule change to allow electronic filing is the only thing blocking the county's plan.
Hanna said his division will do an inventory of county records to see what can be destroyed.
Two years ago in Madison County, an Archive and History inventory led to the county being able to immediately dispose of 28 tons of files and paperwork, Hanna said.
The Supreme Court is studying the idea of a statewide system. It recently established a 14-member committee of judges and others to suggest guidelines and standards for a statewide system.
The high court won't make a decision on Hinds County's plan until the committee, which has not met, comes back with a recommendation. No timetable was set for the committee to complete its work.
Jackson lawyer Barry Wayne Howard said the Hinds County circuit clerk's office could use more money and space to upgrade, but he wouldn't want the office to lose the walk-in, home atmosphere it now provides.
"The people there are so nice; they will help you with anything you need," Howard said.
Howard said if the office upgrades to electronic filing and case management, it should be available to the people who want it, but for those who prefer coming to the office, he wants to see that stay.
