County clerk wins approval to continue records preservation fund, projects $203,000 in 2026 revenue

The commissioners approved the county clerk’s preservation and restoration plan that will allow the clerk to collect and spend fees into the records management fund for 2026, the clerk told the court. The clerk told the court the fund was created earlier this year under a state statute governing records fees and that the county must approve the plan to collect the fees. “This started in February, '1 when they created this records management fund. And in the statute, local government code 1 1 8, the clerk has to come every court and y'all have to approve the plan so we can be able to collect these fees,” the clerk said. On projected receipts, the clerk said, “On page 7, you'll see where I have the, 2026 projected revenue. And I project to, do $203,000, average.” The clerk said the office budgeted $90,000 for an OPR (official public records) system from the records fund and outlined a preservation project estimated at $252,478 to preserve 36 birth books (1955–1995), 14 delayed birth books (circa 1960) and two old city death/city books. The clerk said shelving quotes for physical storage were still pending and that the preservation plan and projects are funded by special funds that can be used only for these types of projects. She also described an active public fraud-alert service: “We have now implemented, 1,200 scribe subscribers, and we have sent out over 15,000 alerts,” she said, and noted the service is free to the public and paid for by the county. The clerk outlined ongoing in-house work to index criminal records back to the 1960s and to sleeve old probate records in archival sleeves. The plan was presented for formal approval; Commissioner Snuggs moved to approve and the court approved the plan 5–0. No litigation or external approvals were announced as prerequisites for the preservation work during the session.