The Records Management and Preservation Board (RMPB) has awarded $322,145 in grant funds to forty-two West Virginia county commissions for records management and preservation projects. The Board reviewed submissions and made its recommendations in January for projects to improve management, storage conditions, access, and preservation of public records held in county offices. Following official letters announcing the successful grants, RMPB staff will provide technical assistance in setting up the grant projects, which officially begin with the new fiscal year (July 1, 2017). A complete list of recipients is attached.
The RMPB was created by the West Virginia Legislature in 2000 to develop a system of records management and preservation for county governments. Funding for the grants program comes from filing fees collected by county clerks and deposited in the special Public Records and Preservation Account. Applications for the next grant cycle will be available September 1, 2016.
For more information about the Records Management and Preservation Board's annual grant program or the work of the RMPB, contact Denise Ferguson, county records archivist, West Virginia Archives and History, by phone at (304) 558-0230, ext. 150, by e-mail at denise.l.ferguson@wv.gov, or by mail at Records Management and Preservation Board, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Building 9, Charleston, WV 25305-0300. Information can be accessed electronically at www.wvculture.org/history/rmpb/rmpb.html.
Barbour County Commission, $9,691 to digitize the assessor's copies of land books.
Berkeley County Council, $16,942 to purchase shelving, fire safe cabinets, map cabinets, and Mylar sleeves for the county clerk's office, and to index digital images of case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Boone County Commission, $5,000 for personnel costs to review records and implement the retention schedules for all county offices.
Braxton County Commission, $12,725 to purchase a high volume shredder for the assessor's office, and to digitize chancery case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Cabell County Commission, $7,397 to digitize building permits in the county commission's office.
Calhoun County Commission, $15,172 to index deed books digitized by the RMPB Statewide Preservation Project, purchase a color scanner, and to rebind and encapsulate deed books in the county clerk's office.
Fayette County Commission, $17,722 to purchase moveable track shelving for the assessor's office.
Gilmer County Commission, $9,415 to purchase roller shelving for improved storage of chancery order books in the circuit clerk's office, and to digitize plat maps and their indexes in the county clerk's office.
Grant County Commission, $8,763 for personnel costs to scan and index case files, and to purchase a scanner, high-volume shredder, and a public access computer in the circuit clerk's office.
Hampshire County Commission, $7,704 to restore, encapsulate, and rebind will books, and to purchase a map cabinet in the county clerk's office.
Hardy County Commission, $12,410 to digitize and encapsulate survey books in the county clerk's office, and to digitize land books in the assessor's office.
Harrison County Commission, $10,000 to digitize the assessor's copies of land books in the county clerk's office.
Jefferson County Commission, $6,500 for personnel costs to scan and index records, and to purchase color scanners for the sheriff's office.
Kanawha County Commission, $10,781 to recover the oldest deed and lease books in the county clerk's office, and to purchase a microfilm scanner that will digitize case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Lewis County Commission, $10,000 to index digitized deed books in the county clerk's office, and to scan and index case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Lincoln County Commission, $9,386 to scan and index map cards in the assessor's office, and to restore and encapsulate land books in the county clerk's office.
McDowell County Commission, $4,955 to restore, encapsulate, and digitize maps in the county clerk's office.
Mercer County Commission, $9,452 to restore, rebind, and digitize plat map index and military discharge books in the county clerk's office, and to purchase moveable track shelving for case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Mingo County Commission, $18,000 to purchase moveable track shelving for case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Monroe County Commission, $9,500 for personnel costs to index deed books digitized by the RMPB Statewide Preservation Project in the county clerk's office, and to scan and index civil case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Morgan County Commission, $6,455 to scan and index map cards in the assessor's office, and for personnel costs to scan and index deed books, and to purchase a color scanner in the county clerk's office.
Nicholas County Commission, $4,864 to restore and encapsulate the assessor's copies of land books in the county clerk's office.
Ohio County Commission, $10,000 to digitize microfilm of law order books in the circuit clerk's office.
Pendleton County Commission, $4,909 to restore, rebind, and encapsulate the earliest minute books in the county clerk's office.
Pocahontas County Commission, $11,197 to digitize plat map books, and to purchase a map cabinet and Mylar sleeves for the county clerk's office.
Putnam County Commission, $9,682 to purchase a wide format color scanner and printer to digitize plat maps and survey books in the county clerk's office.
Summers County Commission, $4,500 to restore and encapsulate the earliest deed books in the county clerk's office.
Tucker County Commission, $11,891 to scan and index death record books, to purchase a public access computer, printer, and color scanner, and to restore, rebind, and encapsulate the assessor's copies of land books and marriage books in the county clerk's office; and to restore and encapsulate the chancery and law index books in the circuit clerk's office.
Upshur County Commission, $10,000 to digitize chancery and law case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Wayne County Commission, $9,723 to index deed books digitized by the RMPB Statewide Preservation Project, and to encapsulate the assessor's copies of land books in the county clerk's office.
Webster County Commission, $20,000 to purchase moveable track shelving for case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Wyoming County Commission, $7,409 to purchase a map cabinet and Mylar sleeves, and to restore, encapsulate, and digitize deed and birth books in the county clerk's office.
Records Management and Preservation Board
West Virginia Archives and History