Cities work hard to make records accessible to the public, including digitizing records to make them easier to search and provide to requesters. To help local governments with the costs of maintaining and upgrading their public records systems, the Secretary of State (SOS) has announced the start of the 2025-2026 Local Records Grant Program cycle.
During the months of December and January, SOS staff will be available to help cities prepare their applications for the grants. Grant applications open February 3, 2025, and applications close February 28. Grant awards are expected to be announced in late May 2025.
The grants are open to cities, towns, and other local governments to use for improving public records organization, digitization, and other technology tools. Public agencies can apply for one type of grant per grant cycle:
- Technology tools grants – up to $30,000
- For purchasing specific hardware or software to help provide more timely responses to records requests, or to capture, retain, and manage records for their minimum retention period.
- File room organization grants – up to $20,000
- For organizing paper records or destroying/transferring records that have met their minimum retention period, to help provide more timely responses to records requests, or to protect and retain records from damage caused by disorganization or poor storage.
- Digital imaging grants– up to $50,000
- For digitizing a specific set of records to help provide more timely responses for frequently requested records or better manage records with longer retention periods.
If cities have questions about how to apply for Local Records Grants, you can reach out to SOS staff at recordsmanagement@sos.wa.gov or (360) 586-4901. The SOS is also hosting a number of “How to apply for a Local Records Grant” live webinars on how to apply for these grants, and cities can register here. The webinars run from December to February 2025.
Cities can check the webinar registration calendar at the link above for the complete list of dates. All webinars will contain the same information on applying for Local Records Grants and give attendees the chance to ask SOS staff questions. Webinar dates for the upcoming month include:
- Wednesday, December 4 at 2 pm
- Tuesday, December 10 at 10 am
- Monday, December 16 at 10 am
- Tuesday, January 7 at 10 am