The Records Management and Preservation Board (RMPB) has awarded $411,014 in grant funds to thirty-six 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, accessibility, 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, 2018). 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, 2018.
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, $4,000 to digitize oil and gas and deed books, including their indices, and to purchase a color document scanner for the county clerk's office.
Berkeley County Council, $8,636 to purchase canvas covers for deed and will books in the county clerk's office, and to index digital images of case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Boone County Commission, $6,364 for personnel costs to scan and index felony case files, and to purchase a high-volume micro-cut shredder for the prosecuting attorney's office.
Braxton County Commission, $13,363 to purchase a color document scanner for the county clerk's office, and to digitize chancery case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Calhoun County Commission, $9,364 to digitize will, release, trust deed, and marriage books, and to index these books once they are scanned.
Doddridge County Commission, $12,710 to purchase roller shelving for deed and lease books, to encapsulate and recover release and land books, and for personnel costs to index deed and lease books in the county clerk's office.
Fayette County Commission, $22,723 to purchase moveable track shelving for case files in the circuit clerk's office, and for personnel costs to index deed books digitized by the RMPB Statewide Preservation Project in the county clerk's office.
Grant County Commission, $6,510 to digitize trust deed, fiduciary, deed, and release books in the county clerk's office.
Hampshire County Commission, $4,409 to digitize, rebind, and encapsulate the earliest will and estate settlement books in the county clerk's office.
Hardy County Commission, $18,519 to create an online index for digitized deed and trust deed indices 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.
Jackson County Commission, $3,745 to purchase a color document scanner for the county clerk's office.
Jefferson County Commission, $16,771 to digitize microfiche of deed books, and for conservation, encapsulation, and rebinding of oversize deed books in the county clerk's office, and to purchase color scanners and a high-volume micro-cut shredder in the sheriff's office.
Kanawha County Commission, $18,163 to recover the deed and lease books in the county clerk's office, and to scan and index civil case files, and purchase document scanners in the circuit clerk's office.
Lewis County Commission, $18,916 for personnel costs to index digitized deed books and to purchase roller shelving for deed and release books in the county clerk's office; to scan and index case files in the circuit clerk's office; and for personnel costs to scan and index criminal case files in the sheriff's office.
Lincoln County Commission, $15,183 for digital conversion of the records index, to restore and encapsulate the land books, and to purchase public access computers, oversize scanner, and document scanners in the county clerk's office.
Mason County Commission, $17,532 to purchase public access computers, a large format color scanner for maps, and to digitize oil and gas books with their indices in the county clerk's office.
McDowell County Commission, $4,909 to restore, encapsulate, and digitize maps in the county clerk's office.
Mercer County Commission, $27,500 to purchase roller shelving for oversize books in the county clerk's office, and to purchase moveable track shelving for case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Mineral County Commission, $15,573 to digitize chancery and law case files in the circuit clerk's office, and to purchase an oversize color document scanner for the county clerk's office.
Mingo County Commission, $5,000 to purchase moveable track shelving for case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Monongalia County Commission, $25,000 to purchase roller shelving for deed, trust deeds, and fiduciary books in the county clerk's office.
Morgan County Commission, $10,000 to scan and index map cards in the assessor's office, and to scan and index case files in the prosecuting attorney's office.
Nicholas County Commission, $4,142 to purchase roller shelving for release and trust deed books in the county clerk's office.
Ohio County Commission, $10,000 to digitize chancery case files in the circuit clerk's office.
Pendleton County Commission, $8,682 to index deed books that were digitized by the RMPB Statewide Preservation Project, and to restore and encapsulate the earliest minute books in the county clerk's office.
Pocahontas County Commission, $9,123 to digitize deed, trust deed, and estate books in the county clerk's office.
Preston County Commission, $7,221 to scan and index deed books, and to purchase a high-volume micro-cut shredder in the county clerk's office.
Putnam County Commission, $12,053 to digitize the assessor's land books in the county clerk's office, and to purchase roller shelving for land books in the assessor's office.
Ritchie County Commission, $9,091 to digitize land books in the county clerk's office.
Roane County Commission, $10,514 to scan and index civil, criminal, and domestic case files in the circuit clerk's office, and to purchase a color document scanner in the county clerk's office.
Summers County Commission, $4,272 to purchase a color scanner for the county clerk's office.
Tucker County Commission, $8,660 to purchase public access computers, color scanners, and to restore and encapsulate the assessor's copies of land books in the county clerk's office.
Upshur County Commission, $10,955 to digitize chancery and law case files in the circuit clerk's office, and to purchase a color scanner in the assessor's office.
Wayne County Commission, $11,411 to recover and encapsulate the assessor's copies of land books, to purchase a map cabinet with Mylar sleeves, and a color document scanner in the county clerk's office.
Wood County Commission, $10,000 to index deed books that were digitized by the RMPB Statewide Preservation Project in the county clerk's office, and to purchase color scanners and a public access computer in the circuit clerk's office.
Records Management and Preservation Board
West Virginia Archives and History