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Record director for Clerk of Court helps people find 'treasure' in warehouse
November 22, 2013 posted by Steve Brownstein
Being in charge of a warehouse that holds tens of thousands of court documents and an untold number of other files wasn’t something Carlton Moore planned on doing.
“I originally wanted to be a park ranger,” he said.
Moore spends most of his time away from nature, storing, redacting, handling records requests and managing the records warehouse for the St. Johns County Clerk of Courts. He is the director of the St. Johns County Clerk of Courts Records Management Department.
Moore stood in the record warehouse, surrounded by scores of shelves filled with books and boxes, and binders that contain a massive amount of information about St. Johns County and the people who have lived, worked, done business and been put in jail here.
Moore gave a tour of the facility and talked about what his profession, his background and the records he helps maintain.
Moore, 55, is originally from Daytona Beach and moved to St. Augustine in 1984. In 1988, he started working for the records department. In 1996 he became the supervisor of the department, and about three years ago he was given a different title with essentially the same job.
He has held various jobs before becoming clerk. In Daytona Beach he worked for his father in a dental laboratory. One of his duties was helping repair dentures. He worked full time for a fundraising company, which led him to St. Augustine.
In addition to his job as clerk, he runs a website development business. He also maintains a website for his rescue Beagle, Bella.
When Moore first started working for the clerk, files were kept in piles. He said he started the process of organizing and managing the growth of the county, which is shown in how the files now fill the warehouse.
“We’ve ran out of room...we’re bulging at the seams,” he said.
The second floor of the warehouse is filled with more boxes, books and files surrounded by chain link fence on a floor made of metal grating. The warehouse is cooled to 67 degrees with the humidity about 50 percent, which helps preserve the records.
The records are also maintained by Drew Antonelli, records management clerk who has been part of the team for 10 years.
“Every day you see something different,” Antonelli said.
The warehouse is tucked away in series of buildings near the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office complex.
“Here’s a tax roll,” he said as he pulled a large book off a shelf. “This is from our centennial...1876.”
According to a document provided by Moore, the oldest records date back to 1817, although the records officially start in 1821.
Moore pulled another book from a shelf, labeled A.
“This is the first deed book recorded in St. Johns County,” he said.
Another book recorded property transfers, including slave trading in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
Among the files are old murder cases and criminal dockets that speak to how much the laws, and societal standards, have changed.
Moore flipped through an old book of criminal cases. Among the charges were interrupting a religious function and a charge for using profane language that was issued in 1945.
That person had the option of spending 30 days in jail or paying $25 for the verbal offense.
The Records Management department’s main goal is to manage information created and maintained by all of the Clerk of Courts offices. That work includes disposing of records, identifying historically important records and keeping electronic records.
Florida law governs how records are stored, maintained and purged, among other things.
For instance, a felony file must be kept for 75 years from the last entry, Moore said.
Technology has changed a lot over the years, he said. The department is making digital copies of some new records, and some older records to save space. Technology also allows people are able to view some records simply by going to the Clerk of Courts and into one of the public research rooms.
But when needed, Moore or Antonelli can pull down a book or a box for someone doing research.
“There’s not a record that we can’t find,” Moore said.
Some people come to the warehouse looking to get information on their own background or on someone else’s story. Researchers have come to the warehouse to get a look inside the box on old murder cases.
Moore said the best part of his work is helping people understand what records they need and helping them find those records.
Sometimes people have to do family research, to find out about the history of someone accused of a crime, or to find out what happened to property that was transferred in the family.
“They do family research to corroborate either good or bad,” he said.
When Moore helps some find the right record to finish the search, people are “usually just elated,” he said.
“It’s like finding a hidden treasure.”
