El Nuevo mexicano., 1919-06-12
County Clerk Lucef0 Declares
Predecessor Bequeaihed Him
Alleged Mess lin Court House
Also Explains TO Bar Association Reasons For APP
pointing Bergere Deputy Instead Of Stafford;
Indexes IN Most Deplorable State, Bar Assoc
citation Reports

dition Of the county clerks office ii
regard to the keeping Of records ani
files, and made recommendations
The committee declared that 1t fo1nl
the general complaint as to the I'M
reliable condition OF Indexes to rec
ords OF deeds and mortgages is wei
founded and recomnended that pro
bate court files should be Kept In
vault.
After the report was submitted
letter from County Clerk Alfredo Lu
cero, addressed to Judge y. II
Wright, chairman Of the County Bal
Association, was also read. II was
stated that this letter had been re
ceived after the committee had made
its report. In his letter Mr.. Lncerc
took occasion to refer to certain re
solutions PASSED by the County Bar
Association which were mentioned as
cOhdemning the conditions in the
county clerks office. Mr.. Lucero de
clares IN his letter that the RESPONSE
bility for the present condition is
largely due to the administration Of
the office for a period OF two years
before he took hold.
Mr.. Lucero also makes a statement
Why Alfred NJ. Bergere was appoint
ed deputy clerk instead Of Edward L.
Stafford, who had been Recommended,
he says, by the bar associations
The report Of the committee and Mr.:
Lucero's letter are here appended. in
view of the probability that all tax
payers and .litigants as well as law
yers win be deeply interested In them.
They are as follows:
To the Santa Fe County Bar Associa-
tom
Your executive committee submits
this report
We have had conferences with Mr..
Alfred Lucero, the county clerk, and
find that he il not only willing to do,
but very DESTROYS Of doing, anything
which this Association may recon-
mend as to methods OF work in his
office. We have learned from him,
however, that a portion. at least, OF
the public has construed the resolu-
tions OF this Association which were
published in a newspaper, as an at
tack upon him as county clerk, al
though he himself did not SO under
stand them. We have assured him
that there was no Intention to censure
him in any way, but merely to call at
tention to bad conditions in his office
for which he was not responsible as
he had inherited them from his pre-
~decessor, and has not had time to
remedy them.
We recommended that some appro-
pirate action be taken by the Associa-
ton to show that we have not made,
and see now no reason to make, any
attack upon the present county clerk
as We are certain that he will gladly
do everything possible to improve
conditions in his office. and wiH
gladly receive, and act upon, any re-
c~ommendation we may make.
one Of the first things to which we
called his attention was the desirable
fly Of Keeping a docket Of all pro
ceedings III the probate court, some
thing like the district court docket
and we then learned. for the first
time, that such a docket had been be-
gun some years ago, but from a has
ty ex~sfiiinatioh, we were impressed
with the idea that the docket had not
been carefully kept UP SO as to show,
as It ought, the condition Of every
case. and every step taken, and every
paper filed, in each case.
We find that the papers in probate
court cases and proceedings, are kept
in an alphabetical file, or are attempt
ed SO to be kept, but that this is a
very unsatisfactory method as there
is no guide to that file, and failure to
find anything therein; gives no founda-I
ton for belief in its nonsexistence.
There should be a numerical rear
rangement Of all OF the old files OIL
such cases and proceedings, down to-
the time of the beginning Of the dock
already mentioned, and alphabet
cal index to such re.afranged files,
and from that time on, all files shculd
be kept numerically, to which the
dockets would serve as indexes, the
as do the district court dockets
to the files Of the district court This
would involve some extra work in the
arranging. numbering and indexing OIL
the old files, the labor and expense
Of which ought not to fall entirely
upon the present clerk. We believe
the county commissioners can pro-
perly provide for this by the employ
ment of some competent person to do
the work.
We find that the general complaint
as to the unreliable condition OF the
indexes to records OF deeds, mort
cages. and of other instruments al.
the title to property, is we'll
founded and that those indexes are lii
most deplorable state. There ought
to be a complete index prepared Of
all such records from their beginning
in the county OF Santa Fe, upon
such a plan that it would take but a
Few minutes OF examination to ascer
tain any record fact as to transfers
of property.
We are Informed that in the county
OF Bernalllo there exists such a sys-
TEN Of Indexes, ais we hope that this
Association will urge upon the county,
commissioners the necessity OF estab
such a system here. This
means a very large amount Of work,
and the expenditure on d great deal Of
money. Expert and competent persons
should be employed, at liberal CONF
p~ensation, some of whom should be
Spanish scholars, as many Of the reel
ords are in Spanish, and the earlier
0nes in Spanish are not easily read
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