*** Updated
Adams County Council approved funding Tuesday to begin Phase One of a multi‑year records preservation and digitization effort, clarifying that the work is separate from the Clerk’s previously funded ARPA project involving the storage room and physical record relocation.
The additional appropriation covers the first phase of a three‑phase scanning project expected to total about $330,000. The auditor told council members the county had no existing fund available to launch the digital preservation work, making the new appropriation necessary.
Phase One begins the process of scanning and digitizing long‑term county records. Phase Two may follow later this year, though the timeline is uncertain. If it occurs before the end of 2026, another appropriation will be required; if not, commissioners have already budgeted money for the work in 2027. A third phase will complete the project.
During the discussion, the auditor noted that the county has also been working on a separate initiative involving the Clerk’s office — a project funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. That effort covers storage room improvements and the physical moving of records, not digital scanning. The Clerk’s ARPA project is not part of Phase One and is not included in the three‑phase preservation plan.
Council members acknowledged the need to modernize recordkeeping and reduce reliance on physical storage. The Phase One appropriation passed without opposition.
*** A previous version of our reporting on the county’s records‑preservation project incorrectly suggested that the Clerk’s ARPA‑funded storage‑room project was part of Phase One of the county’s multi‑phase scanning and digitization effort.
This was due to ambiguous wording in the meeting transcript 20:36 of the YouTube Video , where the phrase “clerk scanning project” was used immediately after discussion of Phase One. In the transcript, the auditor then clarified that the ARPA project involved storage‑room improvements and the physical moving of records, not digital scanning.