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Home My WebLink About2026/08/04 Public Hearing 9:00 AMBRAZOS COUNTY BRYAN, TEXAS NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA PUBLIC HEARING BRAZOS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT BRAZOS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT WILL MEET IN A PUBLIC HEARING AS FOLLOWS: MEETING DATE: August 4, 2026 MEETING TIME: 9.00 AM MEETING PLACE: Brazos County Administration Building, 200 South Texas Ave., Suite 106, Bryan, Texas 77803 Call to Order 1. Commissioners Court will hold a Public Hearing on the following: Commissioners Court will consider a plan for the County Clerk Archival Fund and hear comments on the proposed plan. All interested persons are invited to attend said hearing and present their cause, if any for or against the proposed plan. 2. Adjourn The following minutes of the Public Hearing held August 4, 2026, have been examined and are approved in open Court this the 15th day of September 2026, in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. Duane Peters Bentley Nettl County Judge Commissioner, Precinct 1 Chuck Konderla Commissioner, Precinct 2 Wand41Ws Comecinct 4 Attest: Karen McQueen County Clerk Fred Brown Commissioner, Precinct 3 MINUTES AUGUST 4, 2026 BRAZOS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT PUBLIC HEARING Call to Order A Public Hearing Session of the Commissioners' Court of Brazos County, Texas was held in the Brazos County Commissioners Courtroom in the Administration Building, 200 South Texas Avenue, in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas, beginning at 9.00 am on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 with the following members of the Court present: Duane Peters, County Judge - Presiding Bentley Nettles, Commissioner of Precinct 1; Chuck Konderla, Commissioner of Precinct 2; Fred Brown, Commissioner of Precinct 3; Wanda J. Watson, Commissioner of Precinct 4; Karen McQueen, County Clerk. The attached sheets contain the names of the citizens and officials that were in attendance. Commissioners Court will hold a Public Hearing on the following: Commissioners Court will consider a plan for the County Clerk Archival Fund and hear comments on the proposed plan. All interested persons are invited to attend said hearing and present their cause, if any for or against the proposed plan. Ashley Peters Bowman, Chief Deputy County Clerk, presented the Archival Plan, reviewed completed projects, and reported that the ongoing probate records preservation project has been delayed due to mold remediation. The proposed projects for the upcoming fiscal year include: • Preservation and digitization of military discharge records (1918-1983). • Restoration of historical record books (1847-1940). • Implementation of a secure secondary cloud -based backup system for County Clerk records. Commissioners discussed the importance of preserving historical records and ensuring continued public access to digital records. No public comments were received, and the public hearing was adjourned. A copy the Records Management and Archival Plan has been made part of the official legal minutes. 2. Adjourn The Public Hearing was adjourned at 9:13 a.m. BRAZOS COUNTY Pig LofI Name COMMISSIONER'S COURT H DAY OF �u �� , 20 a� (oPM,�Ub��C U Organization (Please print) 01 M LUft _Tj- & 64� CSV,c,k_ L- Brazos County Clerk Records Management and Archive Plan I Background (Statutory History) The 77`h Texas Legislature passed HB 370 in 2001 to allow border counties to assess a $5 00 Records Management and Preservation Fee for the preservation of older records filed with the County Clerk The 781h Legislature passed SB 1731 amending the original legislation allowing all counties to collect this fee with Commissioner s Court approval The County Clerk is proposing to collect this fee at this time This legislation amends Local Government Code Section 118 O11 (b & f) to enable the Commissioner s Court to adopt a Records Management and Records Archive Fee for the preservation and automation of previously filed and recorded real property and vital statistics records as part of their regularly adopted annual budget The 83rd Legislature passed HB 1513 amending Local Government Code 118 Ol l (b & f) allowing the Commissioner Court to set and collect a Records Archival Fee not to exceed $10 00 on non court related filings The 87`h Legislature passed SB41 (2021) which repealed Government Code 51 317 which allowed the Commissioners Court to set the fees collected for filing of court cases II Bill Summary • Begins on approval of the County of Brazos 2027 Annual Budget The fee must be set and itemized in the county s budget as part of the budget preparation process • Termination The 79d' Legislature extended this bill indefinitely The $10 00 fee is assessed on any instrument document paper or other record that the County Clerk is authorized to accept for filing or recording (deed or official public records assumed names and marriage licenses) However the 83rd legislature approved a sunset effective September 1 2019 to reduce the amount collected back to an amount not to exceed $5 00 HB 686 passed the 86`h Legislative Session removing the sunset date • The $5 00 fee is assessed on any original civil case filings (Effective January 1 2022 changed to $15 00 per SB41) • The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific records management and preservation and archival projects including for automation purposes — in accordance with this written plan • Changes to the plan must be approved by Commissioners Court The plan may be modified as required III Purpose Some of Brazos County official records have been computerized and automated in electronic format since the late 1950s The County Clerk s office is progressive in the preservation of current records utilizing the original Records Management and Archival Fees from 1991 forward However this funding has not been sufficient to electronically preserve and restore the older documents that have a priceless historical value In order to preserve and enhance the integrity of the existing system for recording and preserving public documents the County Clerk seeks to preserve existing original records by restoring or re creating old volumes digitizing older microfilm and paper records re indexing old handwritten and typed indexed books and converting all older media into an electronic format and importing this newly created data into the existing computer system IV The overall goal and vision of the County Clerk's office is to • Modernize and upgrade old record systems in the office • Continue to add records and information to our existing computer system • Eliminate or reduce manual lookups and searches • Expedite record searching by having more records available for electronic retrieval • Create a complete electronic records back up for disaster recovery • Provide more public information to the citizens of the County via the Intra/Intemet • Continue to eliminate the need for paper records • Preserving original records by reducing daily usage • Reclaiming much needed space in the public records area • Construction of new records storage facility V Annual Revenue Estimate Official Real Property Records Marriage Records Civil/Criminal Filings Total Total Total 31 000/annually 1 800/annually 500/annually 32,800 Filings Annually X $ 10 00 = $ 328,000 00 500 Civil Filings X $15 00 = $ 7,500 00 $ 335,500 00 VI Restoration, Preservation and Automation Projects Real Property Records Projects include computerized re indexing and converting all real property records to electronic images and importing new records to the existing real property computer system 2 Phase 1 Electronic conversion of 1999 to 1967 existing microfilm to images, matching to the existing grantor/grantee index and importing to the computer and internet Approx 674 000 Instruments filed 1967 to 1999 Estimated $ 370 700 00 Phase 2 Back conversion of 1955 to Volume A of Deed Records existing microfilm to electronic images and loading to computer by Book, Volume and Page Approximately 1 167 000 ima es from 1966 to Volume 172 Estimated $ 167 000 00 Approximately 204 volumes of Deed Records from Volume A To Volume 171 soverei my —12 31 1955) t Estimated $ 365 838 00 Re indexing real property records from 1955 back to Volume A using the scanned images of the original record books Data entry/conversion of approx 355 000 instruments Estimated $ Included above Phase 2a Back conversion of 1955 to Volume A of the Deed of Trust records existing microfilm to electronic images and loading to computer by Book, Volume and Page Approximately 49 000 images from Volume A To Volume 65 sovereign — 12 31 1955) Estimated $ 170 530 00 1 t Phase 2b, c & d Back conversion of 1955 to Volume A of the Release records, Oil & Gas records, Federal Tax records, State Tax records and Abstract of Judgment records existing microfilm to electronic images and loading to computer by Book, Volume and Page Approximately 134 Volumes of miscellaneous records 'i Estimated $ Phase 3 Design and remodel an existing county building for a records storage facility Approximate l 3900 s uare foot building I Estimated $ 460 000 00 Phase 4 Maps and Plats Conversion/scanning and remdexmg of all maps/plats and importing to existing computer system Approximate l 4 000 ma is and plats Estimated $60 000 00 Phase 5 Commissioner's Court Records Electronic conversion and remdexmg of all existing Commissioner s Court minutes and importing this data to existing computer system in a searchable format Approximatel 190 000 pLges and 120 000 index entries Estimated $ r, Phase 6 Vital Statistics Birth Records Scanning/Electronic Conversion of Brazos County birth records from sovereignty to present Approximately 73843 birth records + conversion to microfilm Estimated $241 150 14 Phase 7 Vital Statistics Marriage Records Scannm /Electronic Conversion of Marriage Records from sovereignty to present LgmTiumlgom Estimated $322 809 00 Phase 7a Scammng/Electromc Conversion of Marriage Records from Sovereignty to present (18 books missed Estimated $25 000 00 Phase 8 Probate Case Records Scannm /Electronic Conversion of Probate Case files from sovereignty to 1970 Estimated $1 082 395 94 Phase 9 Military Discharge Records Scanning/Electronic Conversion of Military Discharge Records (DD214) from 1918 1983 Estimate $9 633 43 Restoration Proiect Restoration, Preservation and Imaging of Historical Books County Clerk Military Records Commissioner Court Index Book 1876 Application to Citizenship — (1800 —1915 records) m c (Y Estimated $29 232 47 District Clerk Civil Minute Books Docket Books Embalming Record (1853 —1914 records) @ m 1 t MN Estimated $129 242 00 Phase 10 Mobile filing system & Library Shelving Adding additional filing s stem to current system Estimated $29 000 00 of lete _02 Restoration Proiect Restoration, Preservation and Imaging of Historical Books Record of Election Results Hos ital Lien Record of Registered Nurses o U 1 24 Estimate $44 013 34 Restoration Proiect Restoration, Preservation and Imaging of Historical Books Election books (8) Notice of Franchise Tax Liens (2) Lis Pendens (1) Federal Tax Lien (1) Notice of Assignment (1) Bond to Pay Liens (1) Attachment Record (1) Probate Fee Book (1) (16 total books 1 i to Estimate $57 340 40 Restoration Project Restoration, Preservation of Historical Books w/ new shelving Deed Deed of Trust and Release Books 1847 1940 Approximately 250 books Estimate N/A Phase 11 Backup system to contain all County Clerk Records Sovereignty — current Yearly Estimate $90 000 00 VIII Length of Projects It is estimated that these projects will take numerous years to complete and implement Some projects may be considered as on going and paid monthly as revenue is collected Summary The Legislature has provided a means to raise revenue for the records management and preservation of older county property and vital records This user fee is an alternative to raising taxes or spending general fund monies to accomplish these important projects This plan will be implemented in phases as money is accrued and deposited into a special revenue account The completion of the initial phases will preserve the original records provide more space in the public records area and continue to modernize the Clerk s office through available technology