Clallam County to place LexisNexis terminals in public libraries, move toward digital county law library

Clallam County commissioners agreed to move forward with a memorandum of agreement to place dedicated LexisNexis terminals at the Port Angeles and Forks branches of the North Olympic Library System and to create a county legal resource center accessible to library patrons.

The decision follows months of work by the county law library board of trustees and county staff to shift from a largely hardback law-book collection in the courthouse to a primarily digital legal resource, with the county purchasing hardware and continuing a LexisNexis subscription to meet the state requirement that counties with populations above 8,000 maintain a county law library.

County staff and trustees said the shift aims to improve access for judges, state and county officials, members of the bar and pro se litigants, while avoiding the public-safety risk of people citing outdated legal texts. Todd, county staff presenter, told the board the county will buy two dedicated terminals, update the LexisNexis contract to point those terminals to library IP addresses, and work with North Olympic Library System staff on hardware compatibility and printing so patrons can retrieve and print legal research materials. "Once we execute that, then we are ready to purchase the hardware and move forward in moving those two terminals to the Knowles library system," Todd said.

Why it matters: Clallam County's law-library mandate is set by state statute, and trustees said the pro se (self-represented litigant) population is a major public constituency for legal resources. County leaders said the new arrangement will increase weekday and evening access by situating resources at two open library branches rather than in a courthouse basement open only limited hours.

Key details discussed included: the county declared old hardback volumes surplus and disposed of items that were out of date (two waves of disposal cost roughly $4,000); the plan calls for two dedicated LexisNexis terminals (one at the Port Angeles branch and one at the Forks branch) because some LexisNexis products require a fixed terminal and IP authentication; the county renewed a Lexis subscription for the two basement terminals and will amend that contract when the terminals move; the Lexis platform charge example cited in discussion was a platform fee of $200 per month ($2,400/year) and representative annual package prices discussed were roughly $6,000 for a Washington State Bar Association package and $8,200 for an American Bar Association package, though trustees said the final combination of subscriptions is still being negotiated; staff proposed a placeholder budget of $12,000 per year for the broader digital library offering while the precise subscription mix is finalized; and Knowles (the North Olympic Library System) requested a $5,000 annual administrative fee to cover basic first-line technical assistance and coordination.

Commissioners and library staff discussed training for library staff and pro bono partners to help patrons use the research tools, how the terminals will be administered, and that the LexisNexis team offers an IT tool to build a jump-off page integrated into the library website. Commissioners asked that the board formalize execution of the memorandum of agreement and the contract amendment for LexisNexis; staff said those documents are on the upcoming agenda for signature.

The board emphasized that the law-library revenue stream comes from dedicated court fees apportioned from civil and probate filings; the county noted superior-court law-library fees can be set by RCW in a range (discussed in the meeting as roughly $17 to $30 in prior practice) and that district-court fees are lower. Staff said final subscription purchases will be constrained by the dedicated fee account balance and the law-library board's priorities.

Next steps: commissioners scheduled the MOA and contract amendment for approval on the next regular agenda and authorized county staff to proceed with hardware purchase and contract amendments after execution; library staff will lead marketing and outreach and coordinate training and on-site technical support.

Ending: Commissioners thanked the North Olympic Library System and the law-library board of trustees for the partnership and asked staff to bring final contract documents and a budget amendment or authority to contract to the next meeting for signature.