§ 255. Clerk must search files upon request and certify as to result.
A clerk of a court must, upon request, and upon payment of, or offer to
pay, the fees allowed by law, or, if no fees are expressly allowed by
law, fees at the rate allowed to a county clerk for a similar service,
diligently search the files, papers, records, and dockets in his office;
and either make one or more transcripts or certificates of change
therefrom, and certify to the correctness thereof, and to the search, or
certify that a document or paper, of which the custody legally belongs
to him, can not be found.