Greetings,

Greg Kilby is right in that accessing county records can be a hit or
miss proposition in Virginia. For specific questions about the
availability and best method of copying Virginia chancery records I
would encourage researchers to contact the staff in the Library of
Virginia's Archives Research Services branch by calling 804-692-3888 or
emailing [log in to unmask] 
The Archives research staff will be able to help you determine what
records are at LVA and which are still in the localities. The
determination of where archival records will be stored is up to each
circuit court clerk and runs a wide spectrum.
As for the .50 cent per page copying charge used in the court houses
that money stays locally and is used to help offset expenses in the
clerk's offices. The preservation fund referenced by Mr. Kilby is the
Circuit Court Records Preservation Program - that funding is used to
process and care for records transferred to the LVA as well as provide
grant money to help preserve records still housed in the circuit courts
- I have provided a link below to details of that program.

Carl

http://www.lva.virginia.gov/agencies/ccrp/  

Carl Childs 
Director, Local Records Services 
Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 692-3739 (phone)
(804) 692-2277 (CCRP) (fax)
[log in to unmask] 

     

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Kilby
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] [APG Members] Question about Virginia chancery
court records

The chancery court suits are a moving target. Some are still at the
county level, some are in storage at the Library of Virginia, some are
still being scanned. In some cases (Madison county , for example) most
are still at the county but some have been scanned by the Library of
Virginia.

The Library of Virginia will NOT allow you access original records
unless the microfilm or scanned image is illegible. If a record has not
been microfilmed or scanned, access is allowed. (Actually, as taxpayers
and if a resident of Virginia, one can throw a real fit about it but it
is not worth wasting chits over.)

The cost of copies at any Court House in Virginia is set by law at 50
cents per page. A small savings over microfilm copies at the Library of
Virginia, assuming they will do it. This is also hit or miss.  It is my
understanding that the 50 cents charged by the County Clerk's goes to
the Library of Virginia--not directly but as part of a fund for records
preservation. (Someone will please clarify that for me.)

As for marriage bonds, they are NOT all at the county level. Many are at
the Library of Virginia and available on microfilm. For example,
Lancaster County. 

Last, there are some counties in Virginia who absolutely refuse to hand
over any records to the Library of Virginia, period end of story. (I
won't mention one that comes to mind.)

As I said, it's all hit and miss.

Craig Kilby

On Jan 27, 2010, at 10:32 PM, Michael Hait wrote:

> There is a Chancery Court case on microfilm at the Library of Virginia
involving my family.  It is a very large file, over 100 pages.  I
started printing it out on my last visit, but at $0.75 per page
(assuming that I get a readable copy of each page on the first try),
this is just too darn expensive.
>  
> My question is:  are the original files still at the county
courthouses, and are the courthouses generally willing to copy these
files for researchers via the mail?  Would this be a less expensive way
to obtain the file?  Or  was the Chancery Court a state-wide court as it
was in Maryland, and if so, where would the original case file be held?
>  
> I am still on a learning curve as to Virginia research, so please
forgive what might seem to be fairly simple questions.  I ordered
marriage bonds directly from the county courts before with great
success, so I just thought that this might also help me with the cost of
this file.
>  
> Thanks
>  
>  
>  
> Michael Hait
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com
> Author, The Family History Research Toolkit (www.genealogical.com) 
> National African-American Genealogy Examiner 
> (http://www.examiner.com/x-8873-African-American-Genealogy-Examiner)


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