Olympia, WA – Nearly $650,000 in local records grant funding will soon help local governments in Washington state protect and preserve their public records. This includes local funding.

In the latest series of grants, Grays Harbor County received $16,155 to organize their file room, while the City of Long Beach were awarded $9,747, and the Raymond School District saw a $2,988 award for the same reason. The Pacific County Assessor will use $8,000 for digital imaging.

In 2018, The Cities of Montesano, Westport, and Ilwaco as well as Grays Harbor PUD, Grays Harbor Transit, Pacific County Commissioners, and Pacific County Fire Protection #1 combined for over $50,000 on various projects.

 Funds in these grants will be used to organize file rooms, gain access to new technology, and digitally scan public records through the Local Records Grant Program administered by the Washington State Archives, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.

 “These grants are vital to small government entities that rely on them to assist with their records storage,” said State Archivist Steve Excell. “Without this program, many of these historical records would be withering away in a closet in a forgotten back room. Thankfully, this year the Legislature extended the Local Records Grant Program so cities and counties can continue receiving state assistance managing their records.”

 The Local Records Grant Program was established by the Legislature in 2017 to help improve records retention, management, and disclosure of public records. Any local government agency or entity, such as counties, cities, towns, fire districts, school districts, hospital districts, port districts, public utility districts, transit authorities, and other special purpose districts are eligible.

 For a list of all the grant awardees in the most recent cycle, as well as a map of Washington depicting all the local governments that have received assistance through the program, visit the State Archives’ website.

To see how other local governments across Washington have been assisted by the program, visit the State Archives’ website.

Washington’s Office of Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, oversees theCombined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.