Committee pushes departments to clear archive warehouse and verify GovDeals listing

Sumner County commissioners on June 2 examined an inventory of items in the county archive warehouse and asked department heads to clear non‑record materials and confirm which items are surplus.

Committee members described the archive space as cluttered and noted that multiple departments — including courts, the mayor’s office, elections, assessor and maintenance — are storing cabinets, furniture and equipment in a 6,440‑square‑foot building. “The courts have about 230 filing cabinets… they’re inundating 2,133 square feet,” a staff speaker said while reviewing photographs and a room‑by‑room inventory.

Commissioners discussed whether the inventory was properly posted as a GovDeals auction or should be handled through the county surplus process; one commissioner said the inventory email arrived after the meeting began and asked staff to confirm the listing’s status. The committee asked staff to contact Tammy Myers (inventory contact listed in the packet) and to coordinate with department heads to remove materials that can be transferred to their permanent offices or otherwise disposed of under county records retention rules.

The committee also discussed documents that must remain under retention rules versus equipment and furniture that could be sold or recycled. Members flagged the courts’ files as a priority because those filing cabinets may block moving other items; commissioners asked the courts to move records into their courthouse space so surplus space can be cleared.

A motion at the meeting authorized Commissioner Clark (or staff acting at his direction) to begin outreach to department heads to schedule removal of non‑record items and to report back with a timeline for clearing the warehouse. If departments do not remove items within the requested time, staff indicated the county may proceed with surplus procedures for non‑record property.