County clerk outlines records digitization plan; commissioners approve 2026 archive budget

The Washington County Commissioners Court on Oct. 7 held a public hearing and approved the County Clerk’s records archive plan for 2026, a proposal that focuses on digitizing and preserving older court records.

County Clerk Prinsler presented the plan in a public hearing under Texas Government Code §118.025. Prinsler said the archive fund is supported by a $10 fee collected on documentary filings and estimated conservatively that the fund would generate about $70,000 in revenue for the year, based on an estimate of roughly 7,000 documents filed. Prinsler said the office will focus this year on digitizing court records — including criminal court files and records dating back to the late 1800s — to reduce retrieval time and increase public access, noting that many older records are stored offsite.

During the hearing a member of the public expressed support for increased online access if digitization proceeds. Commissioners praised prior digitization work undertaken in the clerk’s office and the effort to get additional records online; one commissioner noted past work by Miss Rothermel in digitizing Official Public Records and said the court recently toured storage to obtain bids for digitization.

After the hearing, the court voted to approve the 2026 records archive plan by voice vote and authorized implementation steps for preservation and digitization. Commissioners emphasized that the effort will be expensive and gradual and that digitization is intended both to preserve fragile historical records and to shorten the time needed to fulfill public records requests.

The plan as presented lists preservation and digitization activities and a conservative revenue estimate; the court did not adopt a detailed vendor contract or timeline during the hearing and left further procurement and scheduling to the clerk’s office and administrative staff.