The following excerpt is from a very interesting article about the filming and access to the state of records in the Shelby County, Missouri Circuit Court, posted April 18 at HeartlandConnection.com.
KIRKSVILLE, MO. – A visiting historian’s outrage over not being able to find the court records to a 19th century murder case has inspired the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office, Truman State University, and the Shelby County Circuit Court to collaborate to get many of their court documents in order.
The collaboration is being called “The Local Records Preservation Project.” It’s apart of the Missouri Secretary of State’s “Northeast Regional Records Preservation Program.” The program involves Truman State students, who will work as interns, earn college credit, and get hands-on experience on how to clean, prepare, process and index court records. While interning, they’ll sort through pre-1900s court records and summarize them. Once they’re finished, State Archivists will microfilm and digitize them. The microfilm will eventually be available at Pickler Memorial Library at Truman State University and in the State Archives Office. The original court records will be held at the Shelby County Circuit Court.
