Ensuring there is adequate space in a properly maintained environment for documents that Flathead County must keep is a constant battle, the county clerk says.

Paula Robinson said although the county constructed a new records storage building last year, space to file paper records is still at a premium.

“If the county doesn’t get proactive about finding ways to image documents and follow the records retention schedule set by the state, in only a couple of years we may run out of space,” Robinson said.

Many county documents are considered permanent and must be kept forever, according to state law, she said, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a hard copy must be kept. Counties have the option of scanning documents, archiving those electronically and keeping a microfilm copy.

Robinson wants to scan all county documents but acknowledges such a venture would be costly.

In the fiscal year that begins July 1, she and Public Works Director Dave Prunty have allocated $48,000 to scan some road department records, with $30,000 coming from the road budget and $18,000 from the clerk’s budget.

Prunty said employees in his department frequently refer to permanent records in the course of doing business, especially related to rights of way.

Each county department is responsible for its records, Robinson said, and procedures are in place outlining how to handle various types of documents.

“Managing those records becomes a full-time job,” she said.

Robinson has scheduled the state’s management services office records and information manager to visit Flathead County in August “to tell us what we should keep.”

She wants commissioners to establish policy and discuss where the county should go “from this point forward. Do we get a countywide software program for scanning?”

Commissioners have offered no guidelines, but Commissioner Dale Lauman said he wants the state employee to tell the county what to keep and for how long.

The new records storage building cost $155,000 to construct. The county maintenance staff built shelves to go in the building that hold 5,000 boxes containing 4 million records, Robinson said. Half of the cost came from the clerk’s budget and half from the county’s payment in lieu of taxes receipts as a loan to the clerk’s office, county Administrator Mike Pence said.

Prior to constructing the new building, the county rented storage space in Kalispell, which cost $32,000 for the four years it was rented, Robinson said. And county employees had to drive out to the building nearly every day to pull records.

The county has stored records at the records building, next to the parks department office, for years, she said. But some problems existed with that space.

“When I took office in 2003, we were using the records building, but it was very disorganized and some records had been damaged because the building wasn’t set up properly to protect those documents,” Robinson said. “So we redid the building, and it wasn’t long before we filled it up.”

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.