Ohio County clerk asks to use storage-fee funds for $63,582 records system upgrade; court tables request

The county court clerk asked the court to allow the use of the recording/storage-fee account to purchase a five-year records and recording system upgrade priced at $63,582.

The clerk reported about $43,000 currently in the storage-fee account and asked that the court pay $33,582 of the purchase price from that account. She said the upgrade would raise the monthly service fee (the clerk stated the current amount as about $2,004.21 and said the monthly charge would increase thereafter; she offered to cover the difference until the new fiscal year budget begins in July). The clerk said prior state actions (described in the record as House Bill 1 and House Bill 2 in summary) and grants helped support earlier modernization efforts.

Members asked for time to identify funding sources and a motion to table the request to the next meeting was made and seconded; the court agreed to put the item on the next agenda for further review.

Why it matters: The upgrade would modernize records and public access systems but requires a funding source; using dedicated storage fees would reduce that account’s balance and raise recurring service costs.

Quote:
"The price of to upgrade this year is, for the next 5 years, $63,582," the county court clerk said. "I have about 43,000 something in that account, so I would like to pay $33,582 out of that account for the upgrade."

Provenance: Request and tabling appear in the clerk’s presentation and subsequent motion to table during the meeting.