§ 918. General provisions pertaining to records in offices of county clerks. 1. The clerk of each of the counties within the city of New York is authorized and empowered to do such further acts for rearrangement, care, repair, restoration, preservation, indexing and convenient examination of the records, documents, maps and papers filed or recorded in his office as in his judgment will best serve the public interest.

2. The clerk of the county of Richmond is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to destroy copies and originals of chattel mortgages, bills of sale and conditional bills of sale filed in his office, after the expiration of ten years from the date of filing.

3. All books, records, maps and other public papers which are now public records in the offices of the county clerks of New York, Kings, Bronx, Queens and Richmond shall continue to be public records. The county clerk may cause copies thereof to be made by photocopying or other process, in his discretion, whenever by reason of age, use, exposure or any casualty, such copies shall in his judgment be desirable. All copies of any records filed in any such office, when certified by any such clerk to be accurate copies thereof, shall for all purposes have the same force and effect as the original. Unless otherwise ordered by the appellate division pursuant to section eighty-nine of the judiciary law, the original shall be placed in a suitable enclosure and preserved, properly endorsed and indexed, for such examination as may be directed by an order of court in any proceeding in which the accuracy of the copy is questioned.

4. Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the county clerk in each of the counties within the city of New York is authorized and empowered to maintain separate judgment docket volumes containing the printed transcript or transcripts, in strict alphabetical order of judgment made, entered and docketed in the civil court of the city of New York against individuals, corporations, and other entities on behalf of the parking violations bureau, the environmental control board, the taxi and limousine commission, the department of consumer affairs and the commissioner of jurors of the city of New York, provided that the judgments made, entered and docketed in the civil court of the city of New York against individuals, corporations, and other entities on behalf of the department of consumer affairs shall be limited to final decisions and orders that either (a) award restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or worker; or (b) award such restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or worker, together with civil penalties or equitable relief. These volumes may be maintained in the form of computer print outs which shall contain the date of judgment, the name and address of the judgment debtor or debtors, the amount of the judgment and other information which the county clerk may deem necessary to sufficiently describe the parties to the action or proceeding or nature or the manner of the entry of the judgment. The county clerk may, in his or her discretion, in lieu of such volumes, maintain the aforementioned data in a micrographic or computer retrievable format. With respect to judgments on behalf of the parking violations bureau such volumes or other format shall be maintained pursuant to this subdivision for only those individuals, corporations, and other entities having vehicles registered in the counties within the city of New York.

5. Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the department of consumer affairs may file a certified copy of the final decision or order of such department, provided that such final decision or order either: (a) awards restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or worker; or (b) awards such restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or worker together with civil penalties or equitable relief, with the county clerk of any county within the city of New York where a respondent resides or has a place of business, or, if the respondent is a non-resident of the city of New York and no longer has a place of business within the city of New York at the time such department seeks to file such certified copy, the department of consumer affairs may file such certified copy of such final decision or order with the county clerk of the county in which the department of consumer affairs is located. Such consumer or worker may file a certified copy of such final decision or order provided that such person has been assigned such final decision or order or a portion of such final decision or order authorizing restitution, imposing monetary damages or providing equitable relief to such person. The filing of such final decision or order shall have the full force and effect of a judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk. The final decision or order may be enforced by and in the name of the department, or by a person who has been assigned such decision or order or a portion thereof, in the same manner and with like effect as that prescribed by the civil practice law and rules for the enforcement of a money judgment.