Port Angeles – State law says counties with a population of 8,000 or more are required to have a law library, and the county is required to provide suitable space for it. Under the law, the library is to be available to judges, state and county officials, members of the bar, and the general public.

Here in Clallam County, the Law Library has been located in a small space in the basement of the Courthouse with a small collection of hardback books and two computer terminals to provide access to an online database of materials. The space has only been open for about two hours per week and occasionally other times based on appointments.

The Law Library Board of Trustees has undertaken an effort to expand access by partnering with the North Olympic Library System (NOLS) to modernize access to legal resources and expand the hours available for research.

The County is expected to approve and sign a Memorandum of Agreement with NOLS to do away with the tiny law library in the courthouse and instead provide access to a subscription to a vast data base on computer terminals at the Port Angeles and Forks library branches.

Here’s County Administrator Todd Mielke.

“We’re providing the hardware and we’re providing the subscription or subscriptions. And so, we bear that. That’s our statutory responsibility. I would say what, what NOLS is providing is, NOLS is providing the physical space, and during their normal operating hours.”

The County will pay a $5,000 administration fee to the library system annually to host the service.

The dedicated terminals at the libraries would provide access to the massive legal resources of Lexis Plus software, the subscription to which will be paid for by the County at a cost of about $5,000 per year.

As for the hundreds of old law library books, they were declared surplus and offered to the public. Books that weren’t taken were disposed of.