***The following was posted on the Frederick Co. VA mailing list and I thought it should be seen by as many people as possible. My BARR line came from VA. We need to let these people know that, even though the information is saved, the actual documents are important to us!!! Dona Snyder **************************************** IMPORTANT IMMEDIATE LEGISLATION AFFECTING VIRGINIA GENEALOGISTS!! STATUS: PASSED SENATE 40-0. NOW AT HOUSE OF DELEGATE SUBCOMMITTEE TO MEET ON IT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2003. "VIRGINIA SENATE BILL 818-E2-80-94-DESTRUCTION OF WILL FILES. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=031&typ=bil&val=sb818&Submit=Go January 31, 2003 Virginia Senate Bill 818 Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will after it is no longer of any value and after it has been microfilmed. The description of the Bill reads as follows: "Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will after 5 years have passed since probate or recordation and allows destruction of originals of instruments which have been recorded and remained unretrieved by the recording party after 6 months, if the documents are no longer of any value and have been microfilmed." House of Delegates Subcommittee Member Information: Chairman Terry G. Kilgore of the House Subcommittee on/for Civil Law of the House Committee on/for Courts of Justice advises you that a meeting of the Subcommittee will be held on 02/10/2003 at Committee will meet immediately after adjournment of the Full Committee. in 7th. floor West Conf. Room in GAB. . Patron Name Bill(s) to be considered at this meeting Thomas Norment SB818 Civil Law Subcommittee Members to email (must be done immediately): Chairman: Kilgore, Terry G. [email protected] Members: Almand, James F. [email protected] Athey, Clifford L., Jr. [email protected] Black, Richard H. [email protected] Janis, William R. [email protected] Joannou, Johnny S. no email Johnson, Joseph P., Jr. [email protected] Marrs, Bradley P. [email protected] McQuigg, Michèle B. [email protected] Reese, Gary A. [email protected] Robert F. McDonnell - (Ex-Officio) [email protected] For all House of Delegate email addresses to email or call, see http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteEL?OpenView and http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteTL?OpenView To call to protest this bill in the general delivery voicemail box: By Phone When the General Assembly is in session, the House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia jointly operate a toll-free, intrastate telephone message center to accept calls from citizens of the Commonwealth wishing to express an opinion on legislation. The messages are received by the center and will be relayed to the members' offices as requested. You may call the Constituent Viewpoint operators at (800) 889-0229 (outside Richmond) or (804) 698-1990 (Richmond area) to express your opinion on a legislative issue. Donalyn

Here is a copy of Donalyn's message to the VA Legislature, posted to the Frederick VA List (with her permission). Dona *********************************** Message Board Post: To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Re: SB818 Destruction of VA Wills Dear Sirs and Madam: I come from a long line of Virginians--in fact ALL of my maternal ancestors were from Virginia--and I'm distressed by the possible passage of SB818 in its current form. My concerns are for the destruction of original wills are threefold: 1) This bill is being presented and passed too fast for constituents and families of the Virginians with archived wills to voice their opinions in this most important question of Virginia and our families' historical preservation of records. Furthermore, no time is given for the retrieval of already archived wills. 2) The destruction of records that could be successfully retained by State and County Libraries and Historical Societies. No time has been given for these public sources' voices to be heard. Furthermore, there is no clause to allow these public sources to save our original Virginia archives and I hope one will be included. 3) The destruction of records replicated on microfilm that does not have longevity may cause permanent loss of records. There is no clause that specifies the manner in which archives are to be preserved; the best manner being digital photos and silver halide film. This, in itself, could result in the permanent loss of Virginia heritage. Clearly, there has already been much tragic loss of our history. >From http://www.archives.state.ut.us/preserv/guide/microfor.htm#longevity "Documents with permanent retention periods must be reformatted on the most stable medium possible if they are to be used into the indefinite future. Silver halide film can last more than 500 years if it is manufactured, processed, and stored properly. When choosing a microfilm system, it is important to decide ahead of time if the film must be of archival quality." I look forward to hearing more about possible remedies in SB818 for these concerns. Very truly yours, Donna Lynn Snelling ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dona Snyder" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 9:32 AM Subject: [BARR] Important VA Legistlation > ***The following was posted on the Frederick Co. VA mailing list and I thought it should be seen by as many people as possible. My BARR line came from VA. We need to let these people know that, even though the information is saved, the actual documents are important to us!!! > > Dona Snyder > **************************************** > > > > IMPORTANT IMMEDIATE LEGISLATION AFFECTING VIRGINIA GENEALOGISTS!! > > STATUS: PASSED SENATE 40-0. NOW AT HOUSE OF DELEGATE SUBCOMMITTEE TO > MEET ON IT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2003. > > "VIRGINIA SENATE BILL 818-E2-80-94-DESTRUCTION OF WILL FILES. > > http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=031&typ=bil&val=sb818&Submit =Go > > > January 31, 2003 Virginia Senate Bill 818 Destruction of will files. > Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will > after it is no longer of any value and after it has been microfilmed. > > The description of the Bill reads as follows: > > "Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file > along with the original will after 5 years have passed since probate or recordation and allows destruction of originals of instruments which have been recorded and remained unretrieved by the recording party after 6 months, if the documents are no longer of any value and have been microfilmed." > > > House of Delegates Subcommittee Member Information: > > Chairman Terry G. Kilgore of the House Subcommittee on/for Civil Law of the House Committee on/for Courts of Justice advises you that a meeting of the Subcommittee will be held on 02/10/2003 at Committee will meet immediately after adjournment of the Full Committee. in 7th. floor West Conf. Room in GAB. . > > Patron Name Bill(s) to be considered at this meeting > > Thomas Norment SB818 > > Civil Law Subcommittee Members to email (must be done immediately): > > Chairman: Kilgore, Terry G. [email protected] > Members: Almand, James F. [email protected] > Athey, Clifford L., Jr. [email protected] > Black, Richard H. [email protected] > Janis, William R. [email protected] > Joannou, Johnny S. no email > Johnson, Joseph P., Jr. [email protected] > Marrs, Bradley P. [email protected] > McQuigg, Michèle B. [email protected] > Reese, Gary A. [email protected] > Robert F. McDonnell - (Ex-Officio) [email protected] > > For all House of Delegate email addresses to email or call, see > > http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteEL?OpenView and > http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteTL?OpenView > > To call to protest this bill in the general delivery voicemail box: > > By Phone > When the General Assembly is in session, the House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia jointly operate a toll-free, intrastate telephone message center to accept calls from citizens of the Commonwealth wishing to express an opinion on legislation. The messages are received by the > center and will be relayed to the members' offices as requested. You may call the Constituent Viewpoint operators at (800) 889-0229 (outside Richmond) or (804) 698-1990 (Richmond area) to express your opinion on a legislative issue. > > Donalyn > > > > ==== BARR Mailing List ==== > Fred W. Reese [email protected] > List owner and Rootsweb Donor >