Marcia Moore, county recorder, is in the process of preserving all the county’s records, both physically and digitally. She recently requested help to pay for a system that would speed up the preservation process by years. Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
GREENFIELD — In the basement of Hancock County’s Annex, books of records fill the shelves keeping track of years of history. As time goes on, some are starting to fall apart.
Marcia Moore, current Hancock County recorder, is in her second term. Moore is responsible for the perpetuation of public record, and was awarded outstanding service in 2022-23 by the Recorder’s Association, which was voted on by peers.
“There is a deep responsibility that often gets, I feel, overlooked with the importance of it,” Moore said.
These records can range from mechanic liens, mortgages, deed records to military discharge documents for recoupment.
With documents dating all the way back to 1828 when the county was founded, some papers are in brittle condition. Moore explained that the acidity in older papers eventually dissolves, which is what makes them become so brittle.
Another importance of sealing the records is to protect them from fingerprints and the oils from skin that cause the paper to disintegrate.
The Indiana law says that when preserving, records can be only sealed on three sides, leaving a fourth side open. This prevents the documents from being completely laminated. Moore said that Indiana law also states documents have to be microfilmed, which is another way of preserving records.
Hancock County Commissioners just recently authorized a large contract with HF Group for Moore to have the original deed books preserved, sending all 50 volumes at once for a total of $179,175.75. Those volumes are currently safely stored at a site in North Manchester and are waiting to be done, which should take about 16 weeks.
Another recent proposal Moore presented to the Hancock County Council was two options to help with expenses in providing quicker indexing of the documents. This allows for online access of records, available to the public. Council went with option one, which is the full index, including the full legal description. The indexing would cover from 1828 to 1974.
Currently, the team is doing this process manually for a 10-year span, 1975 to 1985. Part time and full time staff are working on manually entering the document details into their online system when they are not working on current documents.
Over a year ago, U.S. Imaging Inc. scanned the records from 1975 to 1985 and input them into the office’s vendor to be able to bring images of documents into the software. From there, Moore and staff have been able to go through and fill in the information that is needed so people are able to search for that specific document online.
Amy Christiansen has been the records management liaison at Indiana Archives and Records Administration for three years now, and she helps the county local government office manage records, which includes presentations, education on records management, traveling to the counties, and offering help through chats online.
Just this past spring, Christiansen did an educational seminar for local officials.
Three concepts Christiansen makes sure she mentions when she talks about preserving records is the legal responsibility, fiscal cost, and public accessibility.
“Because we are public servants, we need to assure public access to the documentary evidence of government,” Christiansen said.
Continuing the process of making sure records are accessible to the public, Moore presented an ordinance for Hancock County Council on Wednesday to sign and authorize the auditor to transfer $50,000.25 from the elected officials training fund to the record’s perpetuation fund to go toward the indexing.
Moore explained that State of Indiana Public Law 96 allows the county fiscal body to authorize transferring excess funds from the county elected officials training fund, as long as the transfer is authorized and transferred no later than December 31, 2023.
The council then authorized the remaining amount, $154,909, to be paid for by the food and beverage fund. That way, when the final claims are processed, there will be two claims for the amount of money.
As far as when the indexing process will begin, Moore said that the work can begin before the payment. She will have a conference call July 6 to get a timeline and know the next steps.
