About 50 students from area schools traveled to the county seat in Huntsville April 20 to experience first-hand how their local government works. American Government students from Huntsville and Cairo gathered at the Randolph County Justice Center in Huntsville and were given a tour. Students met the county officials at their offices and learned of their duties.

 

Students saw the “vault”, the records room kept by Mark Price, Recorder of Deeds. His office records real estate transactions, marriages and deaths, among other things. The vault houses all the records from the establishment of the county in 1829 to the present. Records are on acid-free paper and they are microfilmed and imaged. The original records, some bearing presidential signatures, according to Price, are on shelves of 400 books each protected by a fire suppression unit without water. Outside the office are computers where people can come look up recorded information. This is especially helpful to those doing genealogical work.