County acting to keep old records safe

The Clarion County Records Improvement Committee has taken some of the first concrete steps toward resolving a decades-old problem.

The committee recently approved the purchase of Phoenix fireproof safe for the commissioners’ office at a cost of $3,715.

The 66-by-30-inch unit is 17 inches deep and will be used to store the old docket books.

“The vital records, like our docket books, need to be protected,” said Commissioner Ted Tharan. “The only way to do that is to put them in a fireproof safe.”

Tharan said each of the row offices and the treasurer’s office also have records that need to be protected.

“We will get (this safe) and see how it works,” said Tharan. “When we move into the new facility we will get more of them for each department.”

Tharan added, “No building is 100 percent fireproof so this might be a good way to go.”

Tharan said eventually all of the records will be moved to the former Sorce building near the county jail in Paint Township.

“We will all have enough room there,” said Tharan said of the commissioners and other row officers.

Currently, the old docket books are stored in several places but mainly in the old Clarion County jail behind the courthouse in Clarion Borough.

“That is not a good place for the records,” explained Tharan. “The old is jail is not climate controlled.”

Clarion County Commissioner Wayne Brosius added, “Currently, we have about 40 docket books that are unprotected. We would like to get them into safe storage.”

Clarion County Register and Recorder Greg Mortimer said he would place docket books containing adoption records into the safe when it is available for his office. Many of the records in his office are recorded electronically.

“Once we get a fireproof room built at the Sorce building we will move all of the documents out there,” said Tharan. “The climate control is the most important thing to keep the temperature and humidity controlled so the documents do not get moldy.”

Tharan said the county crew is currently working on the 9-1-1 dispatch center at the Sorce building and will move on to the storage facility after it is completed. Tharan said the project would not be completed for at least a year.

Currently, the records storage fund has a balance of over $49,824. That money will be applied to both physical and virtual record storage.

The committee will not meet again until November.