District Clerk asks Commissioners to preserve historical records

Young County District Clerk Jamie Land asked County Commissioners for funds to scan historical records - dating back to the late 1800s - into the District Clerk’s database for public access rather than allowing the public to handle the fragile documents. The old handwritten civil lawsuits, divorces, and criminal cases are now tri-folded in shuck files and stored in the District Clerk’s storage room located in the attic of the Courthouse. “Landmen frequently come in to research and look at them,” Ms. Land said, adding that historians also use the original documents for research.

It will cost $89,900 to convert the documents to digital files, she said. “I think it’s important to preserve them,” she said. “It will be wonderful to have it all on our case management system so people can do research and not touch the documents.” Judge Win Graham noted that the County had the funds to approve it. “I’d just as soon do it,” Judge Graham told her. The vendor, Terralogic Document Systems, said it can process the documents in about 60 days at an offsite facility, she said.