LACKAWANNA COUNTY – Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds Evie Rafalko McNulty has been re-appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to the County Records Committee of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
The primary responsibility of the Committee is to develop records retention and disposition schedules and other regulations for the management of county records. There has been a tremendous increase in the amount of records being created and maintained by county governments. New health and human services programs, increasing judicial case loads, and the introduction of new methods of duplicating records are primarily responsible for the proliferation of documentation. As a result of this “records explosion”, county governments have had to spend more money to create, store and access information. An effective records management program can reduce the cost of creating, storing and retrieving records and can increase productivity by saving staff time. Recognition of the need for a workable local government records management program in Pennsylvania led to the passage of the County Records Act of 1963. The act established the County Records Committee which is composed of representatives of certain county offices, the PA Historical and Museum Commission, attorneys and the general public. The Committee is currently chaired by a judicial representative of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Under the Act, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is designated as the agency responsible for assisting the County Records Committee and administering its local records program. The Commission, working through its Division of Archival and Records Management Service (the State Archives) in carrying out these records functions, seeks and utilizes the assistance of county and state officials and other knowledgeable in this area.
Currently serving in her fourth term as Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds, Mrs. Rafalko McNulty is also the Past President of Pennsylvania Recorder of Deeds Association (PRODA) where she had become very active in legislative issues concerning county records, in particular records maintained in Recorder of Deeds offices across the Commonwealth .
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