Historical documents belonging to the Ector County District Clerk, County Clerk and Ector County Sheriff’s Office will be preserved forever after the county commissioners unanimously approved a contract with Kofile Technologies Tuesday.
District Clerk Clarissa Webster said the county has important records “going back to sovereignty” that are not only taking up a lot of space, but are in danger of falling apart.
According to materials provided to the commissioner’s court, some records in the county clerk’s office are secured with tape that is yellowing and the ink on them is dissolving.
County Clerk Jennifer Martin also noted the documents in her office have also been further endangered by a termite infestation.
While efforts have been made to digitize many of the documents, Webster said they wouldn’t be able to digitize the rest in her lifetime and Kofile Technologies will be able to finish the project by the end of 2026.
Kofile will capture, or in some cases, clean up and enhance, such things as plats, commissioner court minutes, Ector County Sheriff’s Office fingerprints, photos and case files, plus minute, index and fee books.
Once digitized, researchers will be able to find items exponentially faster than now when they have to dig through log books and then search for the actual documents themselves, Webster said.
The commissioners agreed to use $7.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act money and $2 million in sales tax funds to pay for the project, along with money generated through filing fees.
In other matters, the commissioners agreed to renew a contract with Burnet County to house Ector County inmates if necessary due to staffing shortages. The contract will increase the pier diem to $80 from $75. The county currently doesn’t have any inmates in Burnet County, Sheriff Mike Griffis said.
The shortage of jailers at the Ector County Adult Detention Facility came up later in the meeting when Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett announced his top priorities for the upcoming budget session.
He said his top priority is to increase the salaries of jailers and address the compression that will result with the county’s other law enforcement officers.
“That being said, that means a lot of the other offices within the courthouse and the annex are not going to see as large of an increase as perhaps you’d be wanting. But for Ector County business to continue at a high rate in which we’re doing that budget priority has to hemorrhage the bleeding that we have going on in our jail and there’s a huge obligation. So understand that that is our number one priority. My number one priority,” Fawcett said.
His second priority is to create a commercial motor vehicle enforcement division within the ECSO.
“We do not have nearly as many folks (as we need) out there on West Texas, Permian Basin roads, which we all know are very unsafe,” Fawcett said. “We do not have enough folks out there enforcing and we do not have the tools in the tool bag for our officers to conduct the exercises that they need. So that is a priority for public safety. We’re going to coordinate with DPS with some other folks in order to make this CBE department happen. I think it is the right direction to go for Ector County.”
He anticipates the county will also be discussing the need for a new courthouse, improving the coliseum and the airport while also preserving money for the new library.
Fawcett said he’s also been working with county staff to create a new step program and find a way to reward high-performing employees.
Initial budget requests must be submitted to Fawcett by June 23 or June 30. Fawcett will give his budget recommendations to the commissioners on July 25 and the budget will be adopted on Sept. 26 along with any proposed tax rate changes.
