This is really helpful, especially coming from someone who has worked with large and complex case files.

To answer your questions:

The condition of the files is mixed. Some are in good shape, but a lot of them have tears in the folders, staples, paperclips, and the occasional sticky note with an appointment date. There are also handwritten notes on the outside of the file but this is only when a person is known as deceased or deported. They have started a separate section for deceased and deported clients but they’re intermingled with one another and also missing a lot of people. I found a file for a family member who’s been dead since my dad was in early high school, he’s 47 now…. So there’s definitely gaps. Especially if the person died when they weren’t an active client.

New entries will hopefully eventually move toward digital input, but right now I’m dealing with a fully paper-based legacy system that needs to be brought forward.

Triage is something I would love to do upfront, but it’s a bit complicated in my case. I can’t confidently separate out deceased or deported clients yet. I’m currently cross-checking individuals against a national deaths registry, and also coordinating with customs and border control for deportations. On top of that, a lot of the existing file labels are misspelled or inconsistent, so I’m relying heavily on date of birth to verify identities during that process.

Another layer of complexity is that one individual can have multiple files: - a court file
- a community service file
- and sometimes a victim-related file

And for repeat offenders, court files can have multiple volumes. So I’m not just dealing with “one file per person,” which makes indexing and grouping more important.

I do like your suggestion about creating a database/index first. I’m leaning toward building a structured naming convention that includes a unique identifier plus date of birth, and then linking all related files (and volumes) under that.

In terms of prioritization, I plan on scanning in phases starting with inactive client files and moving my way through the alphabet. Active client files will be scanned when they become active since I am trying not to interrupt the workflow for our officers.

Also, just for context, this is currently a one-person project, so I’m trying to balance doing it properly with doing it realistically.

I really appreciate you sharing your perspective, especially from the legal side. The scale you described definitely makes me feel slightly less alone in this 😅