Jefferson County District Clerk Jamie Smith 2021 DISTRICT CLERK RECORDS ARCHIVE PLAN I. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The District Clerk’s office maintains millions of records dating back from the mid 1800’s to present. These records are on various forms of medium ranging from hard bound binders, roll film and micro fiche, as well as original paper documents. In the year 2000 our office began the process of using scanned imaging. Efile has been mandated in Civil, Criminal and Family Law filings. Imaged records are accessible to law firms through our website online documents and the public through our public terminals in the District Clerk’s office. In 2016 we began outsourcing some civil files to be imaged for archival purposes. Our paper file inventory consists of 196,447 cases dating from 1992 to present. There remains over 25 years of back file scanning that needs to be imaged for archival purposes. II. AUTHORITY The responsibilities of the District Clerk and their authority to govern the records of the Jefferson County District Courts are established by the Texas Government Code. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Schedule DC – Records Retention, establishes the retention period for all documents maintained by the District Clerk. The Jefferson County District Clerk is the Records Management Officer for all records of the District Courts of Jefferson County, Texas. 1 III. 2020 DESIGNATION OF COURT DOCUMENTS Pursuant to the Texas Government Code, Chapter 51, Section 305, the District Clerk hereby designates that in lieu of filing records control schedules, we have adopted records control schedules that comply with minimum requirements established on records retention schedules issued by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for use in our records management program. In doing so, I also certify that the administrative rules for electronic records, adopted by the commission under Local Government Code 205.003(a) will be followed for records subject to the rules. For the purpose of this section the following documents constitute the Jefferson County District Courts Records Archive: A. Civil and Tax Courts Civil Court Dockets (1844 - 1984) Civil Court Indexes (1844 - 1984) Civil Court Minute Books (1844 – 1984) Civil Court Minutes Film/Paper Source (1984 – Present) Civil Court Case Filings Paper Source (1988 – Present) Execution Docket Books (1850 – 2004) Executions and Orders of Sale Civil and Tax (1850 – 2004) Tax Court Minute Books (1903 – 1967) Tax & Court Case Filings Paper Source (1992 – Present) Civil filings paper source = 41,368 B. Criminal Courts Criminal Court Indexes (1904 – 1985) Criminal Court Minute Books (1929 -1987) Criminal Court Case Filings Paper Source (1996 – Present) Criminal filings paper source = 66,085 C. Family Courts Family Court Case Files: - Adoptions - Name Change Petitions - Paternity Suits - Voluntary Legitimating Petitions and Statements Family Court Dockets (1844 – 1984) Family Court Indexes (1844 – 1984) Family Court Minute Books (1894 – 1988) Family Court Case Filings Paper Source (1992 – Present) Family Court filings paper source = 83,750 D. Juvenile Courts Juvenile Case Files: - Adoption - Paternity Suits (Adjudicating parentage) - Name Change Petitions - Voluntary Legitimating Petitions and Statement Juvenile Court Dockets Juvenile Court Minute Books (1910 – 1964) Juvenile Court Indexes (1964 – 1985) Juvenile Court Case Filings Paper Source (1998 – Present) Juvenile court filings paper source = 5,244 2 IV. GOAL The goal is to preserve, reproduce and archive all paper documents, regardless of type, as efficiently as possible. To complete our efforts toward electronic storage of all case files, we envision using computers to access all records with a view to the future of using the computers entirely for court activity. In addition to preserving the documents, the images will be added to our existing imaging system and improve customer service. Additionally, significant space savings will be realized once paper documents are destroyed. It is the intent to use a portion of the Records Archive SB1685 fund balance for archiving seminars, archiving equipment and continuing a back file scan projects. V. FUNDING Projected Annual Revenue (SB1685) Based on FY 2019 – 2020 filing figures YEAR Beginning Estimated Estimated Estimated Fund Revenues Expenditures Ending FB Balance FY 2019 $30,427 $30,075 $25,145 $ 35,357 Data Bank Project $20,000 Equipment & Maintenance $3945 Archive Seminars $1200 FY 2020 $49,868 $35,200 $24,235 $ 60,833 Data Preservation Solutions Project Equipment Maintenance $3035 Archive Seminars $1200 FY 2021 $60,833 $25,100 $58,410 $ 27,523 $13,675 DPS Project Carryover Equipment Maintenance $3035 Kofile Book Preservation $40,500 Archive Seminars $1200 3 CIVIL CASE FILES SCANNING AND INDEXING PROJECT Jefferson County District Clerk May 20, 2020 DATA PRESERVATION SOLUTIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS PROJECT OVERVIEW ................................... 3 I. BOOK SCANNING/INDEXING PROCESS ........................................................................... 4 II. THE TIMELINE .........................................13 III. SERVICES SUMMARY ............................14 IV. ABOUT THE COMPANY ......................15 V. ABOUT THE TEAM .................................18 VI. TERMS, CONDITIONS & SIGNATURES .........................................................................23 DIR Contract No. DIR-TSO-4038 ii CIVIL CASE FILE SCANNING AND INDEXING PROJECT Jefferson County District Clerk PROJECT OVERVIEW This project addresses the scanning and indexing of Civil Case Files. This proposal includes scanning and digital imaging, image enhancements, and QC of all images. After QC of the records our staff will start the process of match and merge indexing of the Case Files. Data Preservation Solutions (DPS) will provide all the crucial services to deliver these records in a final format that can be uploaded into the County Clerk’s repository, or onto an external drive. This Statement of Work serves as a base-line for an imaging, indexing services contract for Jefferson County District Clerks’ Office. This SOW describes the work that DPS is responsible for implementing. Upon contract signing, a project schedule will be developed between DPS and the County. The project is forecasted to begin in Budget year 2021 and continue through the final delivery of 95 Case File boxes. DPS anticipates the initial imaging and indexing project to be completed over the course of 3-4 months. Data Preservation Solutions www.datapreservationsolutions.com 3 CIVIL CASE FILE SCANNING AND INDEXING PROJECT Jefferson County District Clerk I. BOOK SCANNING/INDEXING PROCESS DETAIL OF SERVICES Before your books/documents leave your premises, Data Preservations Solutions has steps in place to ensure that your irreplaceable information is well-cared for. These procedures also ensure that we can track your files all the way through the preservation process and report that information back to you, if/when requested. 1. Inventory List completed by one of our Senior Sales Consultants • A detailed list including (but not limited to) type of record, # of boxes, record condition, whether Photostats are present, etc. is compiled. • This list is used to create a pick-up list for our driver. Data Preservation Solutions www.datapreservationsolutions.com 4 CIVIL CASE FILE SCANNING AND INDEXING PROJECT Jefferson County District Clerk 2. Pick up of Inventory • DPS uses a company owned vehicle equipped with GPS tracking. • We use a vetted DPS driver with DPS apparel – background check & drug tests are completed. • No overnight travel. Books are always in our custody in a climate-controlled vehicle. • County receives a copy of the pick-up list for verification. 3. Intake by Production Manager • Double checks to be sure that all books/documents are all accounted for and are detailed in our Inventory Form. Data Preservation Solutions www.datapreservationsolutions.com 5 CIVIL CASE FILE SCANNING AND INDEXING PROJECT Jefferson County District Clerk 4. Page Preparation In preparation for scanning, pages are removed from mechanical binders or folders then staples, paperclips and other fasteners are carefully removed. Loose dust and dirt are lightly brushed away using Hake brushes (specialty brushes which have very soft bristles to prevent any additional damage to delicate documents). If tape is present that will hinder the quality of the final digital scan, its removal is always a delicate operation because no two documents are the same. DPS will use all possible techniques to remove tape and existing repair material. In some cases where the presence of tape or existing repair material is modest, this will be done within the normal preservation process. However, in certain cases where the tape or material is excessive and/or requires solvent bathing, DPS will notify the customer and gain approval before moving forward with the treatment. DPS will provide an hourly fee and estimated total number of hours and cost before proceeding with the treatment. In certain cases, the removal of the tape or material is unsafe and destructive to the original document and, therefore, should remain in place. When mechanical removal by peeling is possible (the adhesive is loose, brittle, and easily dislodged), a micro- spatula tool (which can also be carefully heated to prevent scorching) is used to gently coax the tape away from the document. If the adhesive is more stubborn, heat can be applied using cotton cloth as a buffer to loosen the