Committee approves forwarding Marion County Clerk’s lease for 36,000 sq ft of records space

Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell told the Admin Finance Committee that the clerk’s records facility on Madison Avenue is at capacity and that the office needs roughly 36,000 square feet of additional space under a proposed lease.

"We have over a 150,000,000 records, and we'd love to have them here in this facility," Sweeney Bell said, explaining that the new lease would give the clerk sole possession of the building while allowing the Office of Finance and Management to retain about 1,000 square feet for surplus storage.

Sweeney Bell said the rent under the new lease did not decrease as hoped; the clerk’s office previously covered space for other agencies but will no longer do so under the new terms. She described digitization of records — which the office has pursued in pieces, for example for marriage records — as a long-term priority but said a full-digitization cost estimate for the clerk’s entire holdings is not yet available.

Committee members pressed for specifics. Councilor Derek Cahill asked how much empty square footage the city currently has and whether county-held space could be repurposed; staff replied that much of the city-county building is occupied, with the East Wing approaching full occupancy and the West Wing floors partly used as swing space while renovations continue. On digitization costs, the clerk’s staff said they had not assembled a full estimate but that the city’s information services agency is working on a citywide contracting approach to support agency digitization efforts.

After discussion, the committee moved, seconded and approved a recommendation to forward Proposal 72 to the full council; no opposition was recorded on the voice vote. Committee members asked the clerk and city staff to provide more detailed cost estimates and information about available city-owned space as the proposal proceeds to the council.

The committee adjourned after the vote.