When the records, or any material part thereof, in any county in this state, concerning the title to property, have been destroyed by fire or other causes so that a connected chain of title cannot be taken therefrom, and any person or corporation is possessed of any abstracts, copies, minutes, extracts, maps, or plats made from such records before such destruction, the board of county commissioners of such county may acquire such abstracts, copies, minutes, extracts, maps, or plats, in whole or in part, as the board may determine, or copies thereof, to be placed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for the use of the public as part of the public records, in the following manner:(1) The board shall determine, by an entry in its minutes, what abstracts, copies, minutes, extracts, maps, or plats so owned by any person or corporation it desires to acquire for the use of the public; and
(2) The board shall thereupon cause a petition in the name of such county to be presented to the judge of the circuit court of the circuit in which such county is situated, setting forth what abstracts, copies, minutes, extracts, maps, or plats, so made from such records, are required; giving the name of any person, persons, or corporation owning the same or in possession thereof; and praying that such abstracts, copies, minutes, extracts, maps, or plats, or copies thereof sworn to by the custodian thereof to be correct copies of the same, may be condemned and placed in the clerk’s office for the use of the public as part of the public records.
