A grant awarded Friday to the Warren County Clerk’s Office will make it easier for residents to access records such as deeds and mortgages.

The $19,890 grant from the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives is designed to help local government agencies preserve and retain local public records. Warren County Clerk Lynette Yates plans to use the funds to hire a temporary worker to scan old records into a digital format that residents can access on a computer.

Anticipating the grant funding, Yates has already advertised for the position and has some candidates. She said the process of scanning the old documents can start as soon as the person is hired and trained.

“We will start with records from the mid-1970s and go back,” Yates said. “They did some records several years ago. With our current staff, we just don’t have the time to do it with the way the county is growing. We are hoping to get at least 60 years of deeds and mortgages scanned.”

Once digitized, the records will be available through an online subscription service called eCCLIX or through a computer at the clerk’s office.

The clerk’s office will continue to keep bound copies of the records, but Yates pointed out that having the digital records “will make it easier to access.”

The grant funding provides a valuable service to local government offices, KDLA Commissioner Terry Manuel said.

“These funds will assist in making mortgage documents more accessible to the public and reduce wear to the permanent books,” Manuel said. “Scanning and indexing these records is a very time-consuming process but one that will greatly benefit researchers now and in the future.”

Thirty-nine grants have been awarded throughout the state for a total of $601,177 from the first round of funding from the Fiscal Year 2018 Local Records Program grant funds. The next round of grants will be awarded in December.

Funds for the program come from fees enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1984 and 2007 to preserve and retain local public records. Any local government agency can apply for this grant.

KDLA’s Local Records Program helps preserve, protect and make available records with continuing archival value and assists local agencies with records management. KDLA is an agency of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.