Request By:
Mr. Bremer Ehrler
Jefferson County Court Clerk
Courthouse
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You are planning a purge of your lien files. Question No. 1:
"Can a plain photostat copy of a contract or a file card be obtained by an individual or should these copies be attested or certified?"
If the document is desired as evidence 1 in a court proceeding, then under KRS 422.020(5), a photostat or xerox type of copy attested by the clerk or a deputy would suffice. If it is not wanted for evidentiary purposes, then a mere photostat or similar reproduction would be sufficient. We assume the reproducing device faithfully, accurately, and clearly reflects the contents of the document. See KRS 422.105.
Question No. 2:
"If the answer is yes on the photostats, what could we charge for each, considering the time spent in pulling, copying, refiling and the actual cost of the copy itself? We receive many requests for this service which requires a good deal of time on the part of our clerks. "
KRS 64.010, the major fee statute for county clerks, was amended in the 1976 Extraordinary Session [S.B. 15], Section 26. That bill becomes effective March 19, 1977. That section [KRS 64.010], prior to March 19, 1977, provides a fee for furnishing a copy of a chattel property conveyance of $2.00. The fee centers around the chattel mortgage concept, or its equivalent. S.B. 15 did not change this lae.
Question No. 3:
"We have file cards and contracts which date back ten years or more and continuations were never filed on them. How long must these records be kept if the statutory limit of five years and sixty days has passed with no continuation filed?"
Under KRS 355.9-403 a financing statement generally is effective for five years from date of filing. Upon the timely filing of a continuation statement, the effectiveness of the original statement is continued for five years after the last date to which the filing was effective. Upon the expiration of the five year period from the filing of the original statement, the effectiveness of the statement lapses.
Thus where the five year period on the original financing statement expires, and no timely continuation statement is filed, the original financing statement or security interest document lapses. Considering that KRS 355.9-403(3) provides that "unless a statute on disposition of public records provides otherwise, the filing officer may remove a lapsed statement from the files and destroy it," it is our opinion that you should contact Mr. Howard T. Goodpaster, Director and Archivist, Archives and Records, 851 East Main Street, Frankfort, Kentucky, as to the applicable archives procedures and regulations concerning the retention or destruction of such lapsed statements. See KRS 171.410, 171.420, 171.450, 171.520, 171.530, and 171.670.
Question No. 4:
"In cases where this time limit is up and continuations have not been filed, can we mark the file card terminated as per statute of limitations and sand the contract back to the secured party even though the secured party has not sent us a termination notice?"
Here again, you should contact Mr. Goodpaster as to applicable archives policy under KRS Chapter 171.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 Proof of execution of original is a condition precedent.