STATE HISTORICAL RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD
FOR
THE STATE OF IDAHO
2205 East Old Penitentiary Road
Boise, ID 83712-8250
(208) 334-2620
"The M ission
of the Idaho
State
Historical
Records
Advisory
Board is to be
an advocate for
the creation,
preservation,
disseminati on
and use of
information
that accurately
chronicles the
people and
institutions of
Idaho, both
public and
private."
Steve Walker, State Historical Records Coordinator
swalker@ishs.state.id.us
Idaho State Historical Records Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
December 9, 2002
Public Safety Auditorium, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, 7200 Barrister Drive, Boise
Board members present: Babbitt, Blake, Bogstie, Darrington, Edmondson, Ghan,
Johnson, Reed, Smylie, and Virta, Meeting chaired by Mary Reed and Rod House,
Deputy State Historical Records Coordinator. State Historical Records Coordinator,
Steve Walker, was absent due to shoulder surgery.
SHRAB members introduced themselves and were welcomed to the Public Safety
Auditorium by Sheriff Vaughn Killeen.
Mary Reed: Perhaps I should explain why I am up here chairing this meeting with Rod.
It was a little over t wo years ago that Steve Walker suggested that we should have
officers and committees to get work done. He sent out a request to members for
volunteers and some o f us said sure we would serve and somehow by default I became
President of the SHRAB. That was a number of years ago and some officers are no
longer part of the SHRAB. It was designed so we could conduct meetings and get our
work done to assist St eve, especially in times like this when he is unable to attend the
meeting. So, if you wish to elect new officers and replace me, I certainly will not discourage you.
Denton Darrington: I have a quick question for the Sheriff. Do you keep your personal records
for the historical record?
Vaughn Killeen: Well, we have annual reports and publications that go to the Stat e Library, I’m
not sure if they go to the State Historical Society, and there are also the public records of our
department. I have participated in putting together a boo k on the history of the Sheriffs in Idaho
(Lawmen: The History of Idaho Sheriffs, 1863-2000; Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, 2002) that is
published by the Idaho Sheriff’s Association.
Rod House: I would like to add something about the Sheriff’s book. One of the people who
helped put that together was Linda Hopfenbeck. She spent several years pulling this information
together. She has spent weeks of going through abstracts of votes at the State Archives to
identify the names of Sheriffs as many counties could not identify who all their Sheriffs were.
Denton Darrington: Well, let me pursue that one step further. Vaughn, you answered as I
thought you would and that is in regard to the matter of public records. What I am thinking about
is your involvement in the Board of Juvenile Corrections, your interactions on the 911 problem,
the meetings you go to and work out compromises and hammer out decisions, the things you do
personally. Do you keep notes and records of those things that are usually not found in an annual
report o r public records?
Vaughn Killeen: Well, I keep correspondence records on a short term basis, but a lot of that
stuff is not categorized as historical. So I guess the quick answer to that question is “No.”
Denton Darrington: O.K. that begs the question I have in my mind that needs to be answered for
high profile public officials. So thank you a lot!
Larry Ghan: If I can add a personal note, clearly related to this. Anticipating term limits upon us
last winter, I gathered up 20 years worth of County Clerk records and contacted ISU and got into
a dialog with one o f the faculty members, and we are going to go over my personal records in a
couple of weeks. I would like to promote that within the Clerk’s Association to save this type of
information. Steve Walker and I have gotten together and casually talked about this. Perhaps this
can develop as a project.
Byron Johnson: I would like to encourage t he clerks and other government o fficials to preserve
has much as you have. I have done research on legislative matters and it is not in official records
but in personal papers that you find out what was going on between the official and constituents
that speaks very loudly about legislative policy.
Steve Smylie: Of course, there is a flip side to that coin and that is any records that are preserved
are also accessible as a public record. What I am fascinated with is e-mail. So much of the
correspondence that I do now is e-mail, and what to do with that seems to be in a neither world.
Alan Virta: I don’t know if state legislators like U.S. legislators get off the hook as opposed to
other employees of government whose records are government property and not their own.
Records of U.S. Congressmen by federal law are not considered official government property and
they may donate them to universities, historical societies, other institutions or keep them in their
basement. The rest of us in government and public office do not have that option,– the records
of the Governor, Mayor and other city and county officials such as Sheriff Vaughn Killeen can’t
do that because the law says the records they create as a government official are not personal
propert y, but rather government propert y.
Pam Babbitt: Still that leaves a large void in records of congressional officials. They tend to be
under-represented.
Alan Virta: At Boise State we have very few records from U.S. or state legislators. Kitty
Guernsey gave us some records a few years ago. She introduced the bill to st art kindergarten in
Idaho. The extent of her records about kindergarten is a note card that had about four speaking
points in her talk on the floor. All the correspondence from all the lobbying groups is lost.
Larry Ghan: I don’t want to belabor this, but many county officials are concerned about
potential liabilities found in those records. For instance, Commissioners are concerned about
records in which they make agreements for access to roads or closing access to areas or for
contract that are let and the possible liabilities that might result. I have been at meetings where
the attorneys are urging t he destruction of old records because they are afraid the other guys will
find it and use it to their benefit. That’s one problem that archivists are going to run into unless
they have a few allies in government.
Rod House: Is this something we need to get Steve Walker to put a program on for public
officials?
Pam Babbitt: I have worked at different local government agencies and there is no statewide
retention schedule for local governments. I have asked other agency records managers for their
retention schedule and they have showed me the recommendations of professional agencies for
law enforcement. Now, there are different retention schedules for sheriff’s offices than there are
for police departments and there are different negotiations and recommendations within each one
of those local ent ities. In every ot her state that I have gone to, they have stat ewide standards and
training provided by the State Archives. It seems the Idaho legislature needs to grant the money
and authority for our State Archives to provide standards and training for all local governments
and state agencies. Right now everybody is spending considerable money to get training on the
latest HIPPA laws that effect medical records and there are a series of other laws that will effect
the way we maintain law enforcement records.
I think we need consensus on the city, co unty, and state levels for standards and training. Denton,
in response to your question about records, I know that Mayors Earling and Kempthorne had
these same questions. They need to know what they are supposed to do with their records.
When we told them by law they were supposed to t ransfer the records to the St ate Archives, the
look on their faces was priceless, and I don’t know what either one of them did with their records.
Byron Johnson: There is a solution to some of these concerns and that is to have a time limit on
restricting access to records. If there was a time period when the records are restricted it would
take care of confidentiality and other related problems. Maybe a twent y-five o r fifty year time
period before there would be unrestricted access.
Steve Smylie: Yes, it is a good idea that if there is to be any story telling that officials be able to
back up their own story with the records.
Pam Babbitt: Should we make an agenda item to ask the State Archivist at upcoming meeting if
he could put together a training program for public officials?
Rod House: Now would be the time do it. He is home on pain killers after shoulder surgery last
Thursday and he would probably agree to anything!
Update on Status of NHPRC Grant #99-003 - Rod House
As we are moving towards the end of the year and finishing up on our current grant at the end of
the year, I would encourage you all to get all your travel reimbursement forms submitted. Our
fiscal office would like to have everything in by December 15th, so if you can return your forms
with receipts attached as soon as possible, we can close out this grant. As usual, Steve Walker
has prepared a number of handout s for you and I would encourage you to check out the SHRAB
web page on the State Historical Society website (http://www.idahohistory.net/shrab.html) as
Steve has posted a number of useful items, such as the State Archives Transfer Form there.
As I said, we are finishing up on our current grant which the NHPRC extended for a couple of
years as we were so frugal and accomplished what we set out to do without spending all the
money. The 2003 grant, which you have copies of, was not funded at the requested level and
Steve will have to revise a budget and work plan for the amount offer which was less than half of
what we requested. Hopefully, Steve can work his magic on this one year grant.
Steve Smylie: I would suggest that since this grant is not the amount we expected, that we do
everything we can as a board to limit expenses. Maybe instead of meeting four times a year, we
need to meet less because we are looking at less than half the money requested in the grant. I
want as little money as possible for we SHRAB members to fly here and there to meetings and
devote as much as we can to the actual program. Perhaps since all the universities have video
teleconferencing facilities, we might be able to hold meetings that way instead of traveling all
over. It might be better to hold meetings at the three hubs of the university system than to travel
to Stanley or Wallace which is hard to get to by any means.
Larry Ghan: I think there is a great deal of value of SHRAB members getting together and
touring other sites as well. Perhaps we can have a mix of teleconferencing and meetings this year.
During bad weather months might be a good time to teleconference.
Duane Bogstie: One of the main reasons we went from three meetings a year to four was the fact
that a lot we wanted to accomplish wasn’t being met. We found that for those in the Boise area
we could us Transportation Dept.’s state plane and save 50% of the transportation costs plus
there would be no hotel costs because it would be up and back in one day. Seven us in the Boise
are could use the plane. That isn’t much help for those in the north or east portions of the state,
but funding did go farther with half of us using the state plane.
Blaine Bake: Even for those who live outside the Boise area, traveling to Boise to take the state
plane represented a significant cost reduction from flying elsewhere in the state.
Mary Reed: Well, these are great ideas, especially about teleconferencing, and I am sure Steve
will work out a budget to see what we can implement so we don’t shortchange his programs. I
think it would help if SHRAB members could attend some o f Steve’s workshops and assist him in
meeting people one on one. I think people react better to face to face contacts.
Rod House: His programs are certainly having an impact. Over the last few years, there has been
a major outreach and a vo lume of materials have been transferred. There is a real need that is
being fulfilled to the local governments. It has been far more positive than negative.
Larry Ghan: Perhaps Steve and other staff can present a workshop at one of the Clerk’s
Association Meetings and also at other professional organizations. I know one Steve gave a
presentation to the Bannock County Historical Society and I just dropped by to offer moral
support. I think as board members we should be supporting their (State Historical Society)
outreach in whatever way we can.
Discussion ensued about proposed 2003 schedule of meeting dates and locations.
Mary Reed: Perhaps we can coordinate our next meeting in Boise with the State Historical
Society’s legislative reception and the next ISHS Board meeting in January.
There was general agreement that there should be an attempt for SHRAB members to at
least make an appearance in January in coordination ISHS events, in Moscow in April or
May and in Idaho Falls in July or August and back in Boise in October. Discussion
continued about the need for education and outreach to state agencies and local
governments.
Blaine Bake: The Board has pushed for some years to gather together all the Idaho Territorial
Records that date prior to 1890. I know we have had success with some counties and difficulty
with others. These are definitely historical records that are often stored in insecure and poor
environmental conditions at the local government level. Over all, have we been able to have fairly
good representation of Idaho’s Territorial Records. I worry as I know a number of court houses
where Idaho’s earliest records are stored do not have automated fire suppression like the State
Archives building. If the records are lost in a fire or through neglect, the entire state has lost part
of its history, not just that county. Even if not lost, in many counties early records are not
accessible to researchers.
Rod House: We are making every effort to preserve and make accessible the records that have
been transferred to the State Archives. I don’t know if you are aware, but Alturas County existed
prior to 1895 and we have a very good representation of that county’s records. For the last three
years we have had a number of volunteers help put the documents in acid-free folders and boxes
and arrange and index t hem. There are about 8,000 court cases that are being indexed by name
for future research use. We also have records from Logan and Alta Counties that existed briefly
and have now gone out of existence. We have received records from a few other counties as
well, but most counties are more concerned about having access to more recent records and that
is what they have us pick up. We would like to care of the earlier records as well, but for a
variety of reasons many counties hang on to those records, even though they realize the records
are not kept in conditions that would help preserve them. Many clerks just don’t have the staff or
time to deal with those records even if they know something should be done with them. We just
need more help to convince so me counties that these records need more care than they are being
given at the local level. There are still many counties which we have little or no records of at the
State Archives.
Larry Ghan: Perhaps I and other SHRAB members need to make friendly visits to these areas to
convince them of the need. I’m sure volunteers could be found to help box up these records
before they are lost altogether.
Duane Bogstie: If I may, I would like to comment on a discussion held at the last meet ing. One
SHRAB member felt that all we should do is just comment on NHPRC grant applications that are
submitted to us and nothing else. I have to strongly disagree. We were appointed to this board
not by the State Archivist or the State Historical Society Director, but by the Governor to advise
on the state of historical records. I would like to see this board regularly inform the Governor
and Legislature of what we have learned are some of the needs, offer some suggestions, and ask
for an official response. If we want to save o ur histo ry we need some strong support by
governmental leaders and not just wishful public relations statements. We have submitted
recommendations to the Governor before and I believe we need to continue to do that and not
just sit back and only discuss the merits of a grant application that has been submitted to us.
Blaine Bake: I agree, I would like Steve Guerber to give an annual report of the
accomplishments of the State Archives, Universities, and other historical repositories in the state
to t he Governor, Legislature, and local government leaders to let them know what is being done
to preserve our documentary heritage and what still needs to be done. I would then like to see the
SHRAB members support and enlist support for these institutions.
Denton Darrington: Steve Guerber is very well received by JFAC and legislative members when
he appears before them. He understands public relations very well. I believe he needs to join
Steve Walker in the Counties and Cities and get the message across to them as well.
Tony Edmunson: I am glad to be a part of this meeting which has been very educational for me
as I am now able to report to my fellow ISHS Board members and to Director Steve Guerber that
we have some issues to address. Steve Guerber is a politician, not a historian or a preservationist
or an archivist and yet he has responsibility for all those areas. Part of our responsibilities as a
Board is to let him know what our priorities are in each of those fields. Unfortunately, records
has not been too high on his list of priorities.
Report on Dept. of Administration Grant Application – Duane Bogstie:
The Dept. of Administration in collaboration with the State Archives is planning a grant to acquire
records management application software to manage records, including electronic records for the
State. We have formed an electronic data management task force that includes representatives
from ITRMC (Information Techno logy Resources Management Council), State Archives, and the
Stat e Records Center. We created a questionnaire that was sent to all state agency directors and
IT managers. We are considering a two-year pilot program and several agencies are interested in
participating. Other agencies are taking a more cautious approach waiting for all the bugs to be
worked out of the pilot program. We are talking about three stages in the program. The
Department of Administration will use the RMA to help identify the retention of all records from
the moment of creation. The State Archives will use the record keeping metadata provided by the
RMA to authenticate the records and will microfilm them for long-term accessibility, and the third
stage will be the storage of the records, microfilm for archival records and a combination of
microfilm and electronic storage for records of short duration. I have contacted State Archives in
other states for advice and believe we are putting together a solid foundation for the management
of historical and vital records as well as those of limited legal duration.
We plan on writing a RFI (request for information) to be submitted to vendors in preparation of
this grant.
Pam Babbitt: We the records management software be under the DoD (5015.2) standard?
Duane Bobstie: To my surprise, when I suggested that to the IT people they said, “We’re not the
Department of Defense, why should we get that type of software?” I tried to explain that it is
because the DoD standard is recognized by the National Archives.
Pam Babbitt: It is the ONLY recognized standard in existence for records management
applications. In September I attended a Homeland Security Conference put on by the Depart ment
of Justice. The focus was the sharing of information between agencies in regards to homeland
security. Unfortunat ely, much information between federal, state, county, and city organizations
cannot be shared due to incompatible electronic systems. That is why the DoD standard that
allows for the management of records is so important. The government plans on creating regional
data warehouses. Our region will be based out of Spokane and the challenge to all government
agencies is to ensure whatever we do for data storage is going to be readable. It has been a real
challenge to get the four law enforcement agencies in our own county to share information. A
good result of homeland security is that it is going t o drive us in the direction of sharing
information. Unfortunately, many vendors do not have the expertise of putting together
integrated databases.
Duane Bogstie: Unfortunately, many IT people do not seem to realize why we must be
compatible above an agency level. If we are to share information on a local level, state level, or
regional level, we need a common standard. We need software that can accommodate rapid
growth and the need for security also. The State Archives needs the standard record keeping
metadata that helps authenticate electronic records so they can legally transfer the information
into another format for long-term retention, be that hard copy or microfilm. We are hoping to
bring all this information together in a grant proposal by April that will be submitted for review
and comment by the NHPRC (National Historic Publications and Records Commission), so we
can put together the best grant possible for the May deadline.
Alan Virta: Are you talking about a retrospective conversion of existing paper documents or
managing current documents created electronically.
Duane Bogstie: It would be the identification of retention periods of electronic documents
primarily for segregation and reformatting of permanent records in microfilm for the State
Archives. They may wish to reformat deteriorating paper records in to micro film as well, but the
emphasis would be on a way to identify and manage electronically created records. We are
hoping after this two-year pilot program that this can be a model of expansion throughout the
state. In this economy, the only way to begin this process of identifying and preserving historical
records that are first created in electronic formats is through a grant-funded process that can
eventually be picked up in the budget. We have only three agencies that have designated records
managers to manage their records. There still needs to be a lot of education for agencies to
understand the importance and necessity of properly managing information and making it
accessible. A pilot program will help provide hard statistics locally that will help agencies
understand. Today, everything most agencies create is in electronic format. If we are t o save any
records that have historically importance for the future, we have to identify and start a process of
preserving them from the moment they have been created. We are not doing that now and
historical information is deleted or lost in unreadable formats.
We are hoping to get the information from agencies almost immediately through a variety of
means, mirror sites, Intranet, a secure e-mail attachment, tape, CD, whatever secure way they
have of providing an exact electronic duplicate of the record for legal retention and long-term
preservation. Standards for electronic records are important because right almost every agency
has its own unique system that makes information sharing nearly impossible. We need a way of
managing information across agencies and of managing information for agencies that are doing a
poor job of managing it now. Permanent information needs to be transmitted rapidly to the State
Archives so they can figure out what is the best way to ensure that it is accessible 10, 20, or more
years from now when the version of the software it was originally created on can no longer be
found.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations are going to put
increased demands on electronic records to make sure transmission is secure to maintain patient
privacy. Record information is going to have to be far more secure than it has been in the past
and government agencies are going to have to manage it better. Permanent records can’t just sit
in agency offices, but will need to be transferred to the State Archives secure facility.
Pam Babbitt: We will need to invest in our records through any means possible. Do we know
why our 2003 grant was funded at less than half of what we requested?
Rod House: Increased competition and not enough money to go around.
Duane Bogstie: That is why I hoping this grant that involves several state agencies will be looked
on favorably. The State Archives and the State Records Center should be operating as one
anyways since our responsibilities overlap. In most states the records center and archives are part
of the same agency.
Meeting adjourned at 2:30 and a tour of the sheriff’s facility was arranged for the
members.
Edited and transcribed from tape recordings by Steve Walker
