Section 918. General provisions pertaining to records in offices of county clerks  


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  • 1. The clerk of each of the counties within the city of New York
      is authorized and empowered to do such further acts  for  rearrangement,
      care,   repair,   restoration,  preservation,  indexing  and  convenient
      examination of the records, documents, maps and papers filed or recorded
      in his office as in his judgment will best serve the public interest.
        2. The clerk of the county of Richmond is hereby  authorized,  in  his
      discretion,  to destroy copies and originals of chattel mortgages, bills
      of sale and conditional bills of sale filed in  his  office,  after  the
      expiration of ten years from the date of filing.
        3.  All  books,  records,  maps  and other public papers which are now
      public records in the offices of the county clerks of New  York,  Kings,
      Bronx,  Queens  and  Richmond  shall  continue to be public records. The
      county clerk may cause copies thereof to  be  made  by  photocopying  or
      other  process,  in  his  discretion,  whenever  by  reason of age, use,
      exposure  or  any  casualty,  such  copies  shall  in  his  judgment  be
      desirable.  All  copies  of  any  records filed in any such office, when
      certified by any such clerk to be accurate copies thereof, shall for all
      purposes have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  the  original.  Unless
      otherwise   ordered  by  the  appellate  division  pursuant  to  section
      eighty-nine of the judiciary law, the original  shall  be  placed  in  a
      suitable  enclosure  and  preserved,  properly endorsed and indexed, for
      such examination as may  be  directed  by  an  order  of  court  in  any
      proceeding in which the accuracy of the copy is questioned.
        4. Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the county clerk in
      each  of  the  counties  within  the  city of New York is authorized and
      empowered to maintain separate judgment docket  volumes  containing  the
      printed  transcript  or  transcripts,  in  strict  alphabetical order of
      judgment made, entered and docketed in the civil court of  the  city  of
      New York against individuals, corporations, and other entities on behalf
      of  the  parking violations bureau, the environmental control board, the
      taxi and limousine commission and the commissioner of jurors of the city
      of New York. These volumes may be maintained in  the  form  of  computer
      print  outs  which  shall  contain  the  date  of judgment, the name and
      address of the judgment debtor or debtors, the amount  of  the  judgment
      and  other  information  which  the  county  clerk may deem necessary to
      sufficiently describe the parties to the action or proceeding or  nature
      or  the  manner  of  the  entry of the judgment. Provided, however, with
      respect to judgments on behalf of  the  parking  violations  bureau  the
      county  clerk  may, in his discretion, in lieu of such volumes, maintain
      the aforementioned  data  in  a  micrographic  or  computer  retrievable
      format.    With respect to judgments on behalf of the parking violations
      bureau such volumes or other format shall be maintained pursuant to this
      subdivision for only those individuals, corporations, and other entities
      having vehicles registered in the counties within the city of New York.