§ 2610. Commissioner of records of surrogate's court, New York county;

appointment; salary; duties

1. The surrogates of New York county shall appoint a commissioner of
records. The commissioner shall appoint, subject to the prior approval
of the surrogates, subordinates to assist him in the performance of his
duties. The salary of the commissioner and his subordinates shall be
fixed by the surrogates and shall be paid out of appropriations therefor
made by the city of New York.

2. The commissioner shall examine into the arrangement and condition
of the records, wills, documents, books and papers deposited or filed in
the office of the surrogate's court of the county of New York and into
the condition and sufficiency of the indices thereof. He shall collate
and arrange the same in such manner as may be necessary for their
restoration and preservation and shall take such steps as may be
necessary to provide convenient references thereto and for the
examination and use as the public interest and convenience may require.
He shall cause copies thereof to be made whenever by reason of age, use,
exposure, or any casualty such copies shall in his judgment be necessary
and after the copy has been compared with the original it shall be
certified by the commissioner and shall thereafter be admitted in
evidence and shall be considered for all other purposes with the same
effect as the original. The original shall be placed in a suitable
enclosure by the commissioner and shall be preserved, properly endorsed
and indexed for such examination as may be directed by an order of the
court in any action or proceeding in which the accuracy of the copy may
be questioned. His duties shall be performed under such conditions and
regulations as may be approved by the surrogates and in a manner which
shall permit the examination and use of the records, wills, documents,
books, papers and indices as the public interest and convenience may
require.

3. The office of commissioner of records of the surrogate's court of
New York county shall terminate upon the completion of the duties in
this section prescribed.