Scanning and Destroying Land Records at Calder County
Calder County Clerk's office holds 6.2 million pages of land records dating to 1978, plus 1,100 bound volumes. The county plans to scan and destroy the paper to free 4,000 square feet for a justice-center expansion. The vendor will pick up records, scan at an offsite facility, and return images on encrypted drives. State archives law requires approval before destroying original land records and sets imaging standards; county counsel is unsure whether the approval covers all volumes. The vendor's accuracy rate on a pilot was 99.1% OCR, but index errors in 1 of 400 sample pages; two volumes were misfiled in the pilot pickup. The clerk wants to begin next month. The county has no microfilm backup and no dark archive.
1. Can the county destroy the original paper after scanning? What must happen first?
Read the worked answer
No. Scanning does not itself authorize destruction. The clerk must confirm statutory authority, state archives approval covering the specific record series and date range, and the county's retention schedule. Permanent land records may require preservation of the original or an archival copy even after imaging; counsel and the archives must decide. Destruction should occur only after acceptance testing, chain-of-custody reconciliation, and documented quality review. The pilot's misfiled volumes and index errors show the process is not yet controlled. Retain originals until approval and acceptance; consider retaining a sample or security copy. The justice-center space plan must not drive the legal decision. If approval is incomplete, the county can scan for access while keeping paper as the record copy. Destruction without authority would be an unauthorized disposition of public records.
2. What quality assurance and chain-of-custody controls should be required?
Read the worked answer
Use a statistically valid sample by volume and record type, plus 100% image-capture verification for missing pages and sequence. Index verification should target names, parcel numbers, and dates because those drive retrieval. Define acceptance thresholds in advance for image quality, legibility, and index accuracy, and include a rework loop. Chain of custody requires itemized pickup receipts, sealed containers, logged transfers, a secure scanning facility, and reconciliation of every volume at return. The two misfiled pilot volumes must trigger a root-cause review, not just an apology. Keep an exception log and do not destroy any volume with unresolved discrepancies. The vendor contract should include penalties, audit rights, confidentiality, and a requirement to report losses immediately. The county should inspect the vendor site before award.
3. What preservation and backup strategy is needed for permanent land records?
Read the worked answer
Encrypted drives are transport, not preservation. Require a trusted digital repository or dark archive with geographic separation, fixity checks, and at least two copies on different media or locations. Because these are permanent land records, plan for format migration and media refresh on a cycle; do not rely on the vendor's drives or a single server. Microfilm or computer-output microfilm may be appropriate as a security copy if it meets archival standards, but it must be produced and inspected under the same quality controls. Test restoration annually and document the disaster-recovery plan. The county should also retain the originals until the digital preservation program is proven. A dark archive without tested restore procedures is only a promise.