Guest Opinion: State group urges Franklin County judges to go paperless

The Washington Association of County Officials is a non-partisan association that supports the public service provided by the separately elected county assessors, auditors, clerks, coroners and medical examiners, prosecuting attorneys, sheriffs, and treasurers.

While the WACO members have come together to support the common cause of public service, they also recognize that each has separate and distinct duties. It is through the respect for these separate duties that our system of government has the necessary checks and balances. These checks and balances assure the integrity of our form of government.

As an independently elected official serving in an executive branch role, Franklin County Clerk Michael J. Killian is responsible for the performance of his office’s mandated duties within the budget adopted the Board of County Commissioners. As increases in population and litigation place an expanding demand on his office, a fiscal and operational responsibility caused a need for operations to become more efficient.

Mr. Killian, like many of our members across the state, faced a difficult decision to make cuts in areas in order to continue to provide his statutorily mandated services to the people of Franklin County.

Like many counties, cities, state and federal agencies — and businesses large and small — Mr. Killian sought to implement a paperless file system for the records for which he is responsible.

There is precedent for court systems going paperless. Counties such as King, Pierce, Snohomish, Chelan, Okanogan, Skagit, Thurston and Whatcom have moved to paperless records with the support of the judges in their jurisdictions. Clark, Douglas, Kittitas and Whitman are moving from partial paperless systems to full paperless systems.

The transition to paperless records systems across the state mirrors the efforts of the federal court system, which has operated a paperless record system since 1999. In implementing a paperless system, Mr. Killian estimates a savings of over $53,000 in supplies and staff time, while assuring the same level of service for which his office is well known.

Mr. Killian noted that Franklin County was maintaining two duplicate record systems: a digital file record system that the judiciary had relied on since 2015, and a paper file record system that has seen dramatic decline in use over the past several years to nearly no current use.

Mr. Killian must be afforded the opportunity to work in good faith toward pursuing the same economy of operations that has worked well in many other courts across the State of Washington with the full cooperation of the judges in their respective jurisdictions.

However, a recently passed local court rule and a subsequent lawsuit filed by the Benton-Franklin county bench hobbles Mr. Killian’s efforts to manage the office for which he is responsible.

The Washington Association of County Officials recognizes the need for all local governments to strive to work together to serve the voters and residents most efficiently and harmoniously.

In this regard, we urge the Benton-Franklin County Superior Court Judges to work with their separately elected courthouse colleague to come to a working understanding that going paperless is in the best interest of the county’s residents, while maintaining a separation of the roles and responsibilities of the executive and judicial areas of county government.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Guest Opinion: State group urges Franklin County judges to go paperless."