Probate court receives tech grant

Jun. 15—The Ashtabula County Probate Court has been awarded a $33,206 grant from the Ohio Supreme Court for technology upgrades.

According to a press release from the court, the grant will help enhance record-keeping processes at the court, and improve security technology infrastructure.

Andrew Misiak, court administrator for the Ashtabula County Juvenile and Probate courts, said the funding will pay for the purchase of a large scanner which will be used to digitize old Probate Court records.

"We have these books from the 1800s, very old documents, they're historical at this point," Misiak said. "They take up a lot of space in our court, and we need to be able to digitize them to kind of free up some of that space, but we can't get rid of those records."

Having the documents in a virtual form will allow court employees to access the records whenever they need and save space, he said.

"We still have to be able to have those records on-hand," Misiak said. "That's part of Probate Court, is keeping those records, maintaining those, but they're starting to fall apart a bit because they're so old."

The scanner can also be used to digitize new documents.

Misiak thanked the Ohio Supreme Court for providing the court with this opportunity.

"We're excited to be able to bring that here," he said. "It's really going to be a space saver for us. It's going to be good for us."

The court was one of 42 in the state to receive $2.9 million in grant funds from the Ohio Supreme Court.

"The time our legal professionals save through technology is time that can be dedicated to the people in Ashtabula County," said Judge Albert Camplese. "We are excited to preserve these documents and create more space in our court."