The Records Management and Preservation Board (RMPB) has awarded $349,360 in grant funds to 37 West Virginia county commissions for records management and preservation projects.
The Board reviewed submissions and made its recommendations in January for projects to improve management, storage conditions, accessibility, and preservation of public records held in county offices. Following official letters announcing the successful grants, RMPB staff will provide technical assistance in setting up the grant projects, which officially begin with the new fiscal year (July 1, 2020).
The Clay County Commission received $9,865 to index digital images of deed and judgment lien books in the county clerk’s office.
The RMPB was created by the West Virginia Legislature in 2000 to develop a system of records management and preservation for county governments. Funding for the grants program comes from filing fees collected by county clerks and deposited in the special Public Records and Preservation Account. Applications for the next grant cycle will be available Sept. 1, 2020.
For more information about the Records Management and Preservation Board’s annual grant program or the work of the RMPB, contact Denise Ferguson, county records archivist, West Virginia Archives and History, at (304) 558-0230, ext. 150 or denise.l.ferguson@wv.gov, or by mail at Records Management and Preservation Board, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Building 9, Charleston, WV 25305-0300. Information can be accessed electronically at www.wvculture.org/history/rmpb/rmpb.html.
