I saw a local news story today that actually got me a little riled (muttering words like ‘insane’ and ‘inane’ to myself). Apparently, it’s quite possible that both my name and signature, along with my social security number, are readily available at my county’s probate court website.
(Updated)
Private Information is Public Record
Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis tells News Five when it comes to what information is published, his hands are tied. Davis says his office is obligated by Alabama law to publish mortgages, deeds, incorporations and other documents exactly as they are submitted, so if you’re bank or mortgage broker included your social security number, it becomes public record.
“Current Alabama law does not permit a probate judge, anywhere in the state of Alabama, to redact information off a document,” said Davis, who has spent the last two years working with lawmakers to address the issue. Davis says the Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill to allow Probate Judges to delete private information, but the measure failed in the Senate. Davis says the legislation was supported by the Alabama Association of Probate Judges and the Alabama Banking Association.
When I try registering at the site to do my own searches, I get some nicely formatted .NET framework error messages and stack traces. I’ve also tried tracking down the exact bill that went through the house but somehow failed (epic) the senate. It’d be great if the reporter would follow up on that detail. It seems strange that something like that wouldn’t pass, but I’m sure there’s some political theater involved preventing useful and necessary improvements from happening.
Update: There was a follow-up report. Apparently it’s not that the bill failed in the senate. The problem is that it never reached the senate.
We contacted Mobile senators to find out why the bill was not brought up for a vote in the Senate, but one senator, Vivian Davis-Figures, declined to comment. Senator Rusty Glover, who also represents Mobile, blamed partisan bickering for holding several bills hostage, including this one. Glover promises to support the legislation when it is brought up for a third time next year, but says the power to decide what bill comes up for a vote is up to one lawmaker— Senator Lowell Barron, a Democrat from Fyffe.