The cases are tied in tiny packets. Action News found a will dating back to 1885. It opens like a tri-fold flyer with intricate and seemingly perfect cursive handwriting. While sifting through files, we also discovered an arrest warrant from 1880.
Millerton Lake now covers the location of Fresno County's first permanent courthouse. The building was abandoned in 1874 and eventually moved here overlooking the lake. The superior court archives are so extensive-it even contains cases that were heard in the historic building.
Previous generations weren't so kind when they stored Fresno County's judicial history. Now, staff members are carefully unraveling the files as they try to preserve each one. Nearly 25,000 files need protection. But state leaders are not providing any extra money. So the work goes on, page by page very slowly.
By law -- the court is required to preserve the old case files. But court managers don't expect to receive substantial preservation funding until the state's budget problems are solved.
