Probate Court Floods, You Pay Clean Up!

They're mopping up the mess inside Mobile County Probate Court after the outdoor sprinkler system went off!

Fire officials still aren't sure why the sprinklers started spraying but the water seeped into the building, through the walls and a few open windows.

All sorts of documents could be damaged from the water event.We're talking everything from tax liens to marriage licenses and mortgage papers.

Probate Judge Don Davis says all the documents have been recorded and have duplicates so your information is safe. However, those documents were in Probate court for your convenience. "We're gonna be crippled for a short period of time in terms of servicing the public being able to find records quickly until we can access the situation and take appropriate steps to address any problems we have."

There's no word yet on the extent of the damage but the same thing happened in September 2007. Davis says insurance didn't cover that mess and it probably won't cover round 2 either. "That was not an insured claim so the county had to bear that expense and ultimately the taxpayers right and I don't know what the extent of the damage is going to be this time."

Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine tells us that the county rents the building from the Centre For The Living Arts. They would be the ones responsible for doing something to prevent this from happening a third time. We couldn't reach the owners of the building for comment.

Probate court is temporarily housed at Government Street and South Claiborne until their new facility next to Government Plaza is complete.