Leflore County is going paperless.
Although the Board of Supervisors is still working out the kinks, Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham said that the county could be moving everything online as early as April.
“We’re all ready. We just need to buy the laptops,” said Abraham during Monday’s board meeting.
The discussion was prompted by Supervisor Anjuan Brown, who said the plan to eliminate paper folders, requests, letters and other documents that come before the board in favor of electronic access could save the county money.
The county discussed going paperless last December.
The plan would require each supervisor to have a laptop, and a closed network would exist between them.
Public access would continue to work exactly the way it does now, said Abraham. Documents would not be readily accessible to the public, especially those discussed in executive sessions.
If a county resident wanted to see a public document, he or she could request the printed documents, which is how the system currently operates.
Abraham said that his office is working on a county website.
Not everything is going electronic. Agendas and meeting minutes will still be printed. But the dozens of manila folders that Assistant Purchase Clerk Mary Hicks puts together each Monday, including letters, bills, Requests for Proposals and anything else going before the board, will be a thing of the past.
Those presenting to the board, however, will not need access to the network to file their paperwork. Abraham said that those documents can be submitted the same as they are now, and the county will put them online.
Abraham is speaking with a computer specialist from North Central about getting the project under way.
He agreed with Brown’s assessment of the cost effectiveness of the program in an interview today.
“Over time, it would be cheaper because not only are you eliminating paper, you’re also eliminating the time it takes Mary to make all those copies,” said Abraham.
Abraham added that the county is joining a host of other governing bodies that have already done away with their paper trails.
Supervisor Robert Collins agreed. “This is the future,” he said.
• Contact Jeanie Riess at 581-7235 or jriess@gwcommonwealth.com.
