Collin County approves 2026 records preservation, including early 20th-century property files

Collin County Commissioners Court approved the County Clerk’s FY2026 Preservation, Restoration and Records Archive Plan after a public hearing in which the clerk described recent and planned preservation projects.

"This is the plan that I bring before y'all each year on the work that we've done over on all of our records," said County Clerk Kemp. She told the court that a recent preservation project cleaned and repaired criminal case files dated 1893 to 1950 and that all those files were digitally imaged. Kemp said the county will next preserve a range of property records from 1901 to 1966 and place them into "heritage binders" and the county's records system.

The clerk did not receive public comment during the hearing. Commissioners expressed appreciation for the work and moved to approve the preservation project as presented. The court's motion carried.

Kemp noted the practical and genealogical value of preserving older records; the judge made anecdotal reference to family history found in the recently preserved criminal records. The preservation plan presented to the court focuses on physical repair, digitization, and archival organization of the specified historical records; the transcript does not list project costs, outside vendors, or detailed implementation timelines.