The Howard County?s Finance Department has been getting rid of its filing cabinets in favor of digital documents, a move starting countywide.
“We knew the technology was out there,” said Finance Director Sharon Greisz. “We have made a lot of headway over the last year.”
The department has moved out 20 or 30 filing cabinets in the last year, after purchasing three scanners, she said. Finance officials can scan and discard documents such as vendor invoices.
Greisz said she gave the directive to move to electronic records about two years ago, but it took about a year to get serious.
“It takes a long time for people to change,” she said.
The department still is holding onto some older documents because of retention requirements, she said. Those papers will eventually be thrown away rather than scanned.
Howard officials want to increase electronic records countywide, and some forms are already available online, said County Chief Administration Officer Raquel Sanudo.
“We are already moving toward that in various areas,” she said. “But that doesn?t mean you don?t have paper at some time.”
A records management division in the county?s Department of Technology and Communication Services also scans and warehouses documents for the county?s departments, but not all departments participate, said department Director Nina Benz.
“I would love to see a paperless county,” she said.
Meanwhile, Carroll County officials are taking steps to eliminate their 600 filing cabinets and boost security.
County audit officials plan to visit Chesterfield County, Va., next month to explore that county?s electronic filing system. Carroll officials plan to include about $500,000 for an electronic filing system in the fiscal year 2008 capital budget.
Examiner Staff Writer Kelsey Volkmann contributed to this story.
