KINGWOOD — Circuit Court records must be physically kept for 75 years and the Preston County Circuit Clerk needs more space to store old case files.
County Administrator Kathy Mace informed the Preston County Commission of those facts at a work session to discuss how to spend CARES money on Tuesday. The third floor of the courthouse, where the circuit clerk’s office is located, can’t hold any more records because of weight, and the downstairs storage is full. Mace said it looks like the only option is offsite storage.
Commission President Don Smith asked if there was a provision to account for scanning the records.
“Even if you scan them you’re not allowed to destroy them,” said Circuit Clerk Lisa Leishman. “And these files will have to be in a secured area, too.”
Mace said she had spoken with Leishman about renting the space behind the election center to save some money by using the security box already in place, then moving records that don’t require a lot of access, while keeping more current records close by.
Smith said that would take care of the problem temporarily but “sooner or later we gotta find a permanent fix for that.” What happens if the building is sold and the new owner doesn’t want to rent to the commission anymore, he asked.
Commissioner Samantha Stone said, “You know, we’ve talked often about the possibility of a new facility over by the 911 center at some point, and I think if we ever get to that point that would be our permanent fix — to add a storage space in a facility like that, that we actually own.”
Smith also questioned if the requirement to store the records for 75 years came from state code or from the state’s supreme court. If it’s part of state code, that’s something the commission could look into getting help to change.
“When they did this, I’m sure there was a reason because we didn’t have the scanning capability and the internet and the cloud and everything when they did all this way back,” Smith said. But now with this scanning technology, why does it gotta be 75 years? Why can’t it be 25 years?”
Leishman said she wasn’t sure where the requirement came from and would look into it. She told The Dominion Post that the requirement is set by state code and proclamated by the supreme court.
Leishman also informed commissioners that e-filing is coming — 27 counties already have it — and eventually, every court file will need to be scanned into the system.
“It’s definitely coming. You don’t have a choice,” Leishman said. “And let me tell you, they may call you and say ‘you got one month or three months to get everything ready. We’re coming.’ ”
When that happens — those files have to be scanned in. Leishman said there are grants available to help with that and said her office was too busy to scan old documents.
Stone said she wanted to be proactive and not wait until Preston County’s card is called before gearing up for the change. Smith agreed and said while it may not be the current commission’s problem “we might as well get ahead of the curve and be done with it.”
Leishman said she would look into what the costs of scanning the documents would be and bring the commission quotes.
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