Sanders County Courthouse

Secure History

Sanders County was established in 1905 and the county seat, Thompson Falls, was platted in 1885. Historical ledgers dating back to that time were stored in the basement of the Sanders County Courthouse located just blocks from the beautiful Thompson River. In order to ensure the security of the ledgers and to preserve the survey records, infrastructure maps and property sales from the last century, Sanders County contracted with Global Archives to move the ledgers to the new warehouse in Kalispell and scan these documents with the Zeutschel OS 12000 state-of-the-art scanner. 

Index Information

Several hundred oversized ledgers were scanned and then indexed and uploaded to Global Archives’ interactive LockBox system which will allow staff in Sanders County to access any document with a simple search of the inventory list.  Once the process for the historical ledgers is completed, the needs of other departments will be evaluated with each office determining which documents to index, label and store at Global Archives’ headquarters and which documents to scan immediately to be uploaded to Sanders County’s permanent digital library. 

Prepare for the Future

The needs of the Environmental Health and Planning Departments will be assessed and an estimate based on the Department’s needs will be provided. Ultimately the project will allow hundreds of square feet in the courthouse opened up for more productive activities. Dusty stacks and boxes in dark corners will be eliminated, saving staff time in their search for historical documents. And the administration will gain peace of mind in knowing that a flood or other disaster will not erase decades of important records.