The gist
Under the agenda item, the court approved Phase 2 records management and preservation services through the TXMAS interlocal agreement with Kofile Technologies Inc. for $406,550.
County officials said the project will be funded through the County Clerk Records Management Fund/Records Archive Fund, with no general funds used.
During the discussion, Steinmann said Phase 2 is focused on getting Commissioners Court records online so they are searchable. He said right now, requests for older documents can require staff to spend “hours or a day” going through old books in the county’s records archive.
Steinmann told commissioners the records being preserved date back to early statehood, after Texas transitioned from a republic, and said the digital access is intended to help both county offices and the public.
“We have Precinct 4 even asked, ‘Can you have a list of elected officials going back to the starting of the state?’ We're able to provide that, and it's in a few minutes, instead of hours and days,” Steinmann said.
He also said the county still has about 87,000 records left to process and that the county has previously experienced document damage, making preservation a priority.
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the item.
