A cooperative project between the Board of Commissioners and the Superior Court Clerk for Gwinnett County has concluded in a new home for Gwinnett citizens’ real and personal property records. The project, which began in 2002, will end with the dedication of the new Real Estate Records Room on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008, hosted by Clerk of Superior Court Tom Lawler and attended by the Commissioners and others. 

The project, which involved scanning and indexing over 12 million real estate documents, digitizes all Gwinnett County real estate records dating back to Sept. 26, 1871, after the old Gwinnett courthouse burned down. The Clerk’s office receives and processes more than a quarter million property records each year. At the time the Clerk requested the project, the office was creating between 25 and 40 300-page deed books each business day. These books had to be secured on traditional shelving, so temporary shelves were added when no more shelf space was available. 

The property room now operates without paper books. The new property room will never have to be expanded beyond its present size. Security for the deeds and other property records of Gwinnett citizens has been greatly enhanced. The only paper books in the new property room are indexes, which are required by current law to be printed monthly and made available for use by the public. These same indexes are also available electronically. 

Gwinnett residents are invited to use the new property room in the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Access to the deed records in the property room is free, as always, with a statutory fee of $ .25 per page for each copy.