Sedgwick County staff presented a proposed records‑management policy at an agenda‑review meeting intended to provide a uniform framework for converting paper records to electronic formats, storing them, and handling retention and disposal.

"Paper records are still the official record," Corey, a county records staff member, said, "but if they want to convert to electronic records, this process is how they would do it." The proposal would not mandate conversion; rather it would establish standards and a countywide framework for departments that choose to move to digital records.

Commissioners pressed staff on several operational and security questions. Commissioner Howe said he expected the county to move beyond scanning images and to rely on digitally natively produced PDFs with consistent file naming and digital signatures; he warned that "when you become disorganized at the beginning, it's almost impossible to fix it down the road." Howe asked whether the county has a consistent file‑naming protocol, where the official copy is stored, and whether the county has the Adobe and DocuSign licensing in place to support searchable, signed PDFs.

Corey and other staff responded that OnBase is used for cloud storage and that security groups control access. Staff said some departments can already produce searchable PDFs if they have professional Adobe licenses and DocuSign, but that licenses and capabilities vary by department and that a countywide standard would likely require a broader procurement.

Staff framed the policy narrowly as a retention and records‑management tool to meet statutory duties under state law and to ensure consistent preservation and disposal practices. "We want some degree of uniformity with how we're preserving these documents if we're choosing to transfer them to electronic," Kirk Sponse, the deputy county counselor, said, adding that the policy's initial focus is retention compliance rather than a full IT migration.

The proposed policy appears on the commission consent agenda and on the Fire District No. 1 agenda as the same item. No formal vote or adoption occurred at the agenda‑review meeting; staff said departments can continue using existing processes while the policy provides a recommended framework.

Clarifying details provided in the meeting included that OnBase is cloud‑hosted, scanned images currently may be OCR'ed but produce mixed results, and that departments can purchase Adobe and DocuSign individually today. Staff said the policy includes a process for disposing of paper originals after successful conversion when legal retention requirements are met.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to provide more specifics — a maturity plan for enterprise Adobe/DocuSign licensing, file‑naming conventions, and details on security and custodial responsibility — before the item comes to the commission for final action.