Accomack Supervisors approve budget request to digitize court records

The Accomack County Board of Supervisors voted to pass a budget amendment that would cover the cost of digitizing court cases stored in the  Clerk of Court’s office.   In a letter to the Board,  Clerk of Court Talia Taylor cited three reasons for the request: Space, accessibility and Sealing Bill.

“We are completely out of space in the clerk’s office. Having these scanned into our system will free up space that can be used for records that is required to be kept in the office permanently. There are boxes stacked in the upstairs storage area,” Taylor wrote.

As far as accessibility, Taylor said having these cases scanned will make them more accessible when a file is needed.

Also, having these cases in the system will help the clerk’s office find the cases and be able to get them sealed per the 2025 Sealing Bill. She said the bill is going to increase the workload of the clerk’s office a great deal and just this one part will alleviate some of the extra work.

The cost of this service exceeds the seed funding of $50,000 the Board of Supervisors appropriated to the
Clerks Office for FY25 by $74,442.00.

Taylor said “I am here tonight to request the additional funding from the Board so that I can complete the necessary work. The projected cost of the digitization would cover 660 boxes of chancery, civil and criminal records from the 1970s until 1912.”

Taylor’s request would come the FY 25 County Budget Contingency Fund  which currently holds $311,685 for appropriation.

The Board voted unanimously to approve the request.