diff --git a/Docs/Tasks.md b/Docs/Tasks.md
index e977bce..2ce2fa6 100644
--- a/Docs/Tasks.md
+++ b/Docs/Tasks.md
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ Reference: `Docs/Refactoring.md` for full analysis of each issue.
 
 **Docs changes needed:** None beyond `Refactoring.md`.
 
+**Status:** Completed ✅
+
 **Why this is needed:** Raw SQL in the service layer bypasses the repository abstraction. It makes the service harder to test (requires a real DB schema) and harder to maintain (schema changes must be tracked in the service, not just the repository).
 
 ---
diff --git a/backend/app/repositories/history_archive_repo.py b/backend/app/repositories/history_archive_repo.py
index 184e7d4..d971055 100644
--- a/backend/app/repositories/history_archive_repo.py
+++ b/backend/app/repositories/history_archive_repo.py
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ async def archive_ban_event(
     return inserted
 
 
+async def get_max_timeofban(db: aiosqlite.Connection) -> int | None:
+    """Return the latest archived ban timestamp or ``None`` when empty."""
+    async with db.execute("SELECT MAX(timeofban) FROM history_archive") as cursor:
+        row = await cursor.fetchone()
+    if row is None or row[0] is None:
+        return None
+    return int(row[0])
+
+
 async def get_archived_history(
     db: aiosqlite.Connection,
     since: int | None = None,
diff --git a/backend/app/services/history_service.py b/backend/app/services/history_service.py
index d2ba99d..7e89772 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/history_service.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/history_service.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ from app.models.history import (
     IpTimelineEvent,
 )
 from app.repositories import fail2ban_db_repo
-from app.repositories.history_archive_repo import archive_ban_event
+from app.repositories.history_archive_repo import archive_ban_event, get_max_timeofban
 from app.services.fail2ban_metadata_service import default_fail2ban_metadata_service
 from app.utils.fail2ban_db_utils import parse_data_json, ts_to_iso
 
@@ -67,11 +67,7 @@ _HISTORY_SYNC_BACKFILL_WINDOW: int = 648000
 
 async def _get_last_archive_ts(db: aiosqlite.Connection) -> int | None:
     """Return the most recent archived ban timestamp, or ``None`` if empty."""
-    async with db.execute("SELECT MAX(timeofban) FROM history_archive") as cur:
-        row = await cur.fetchone()
-    if row is None or row[0] is None:
-        return None
-    return int(row[0])
+    return await get_max_timeofban(db)
 
 
 async def sync_from_fail2ban_db(
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_repositories/test_history_archive_repo.py b/backend/tests/test_repositories/test_history_archive_repo.py
index f9b5373..1a86cc5 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_repositories/test_history_archive_repo.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_repositories/test_history_archive_repo.py
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ import aiosqlite
 import pytest
 
 from app.db import init_db
-from app.repositories.history_archive_repo import archive_ban_event, get_archived_history, purge_archived_history
+from app.repositories.history_archive_repo import (
+    archive_ban_event,
+    get_archived_history,
+    get_max_timeofban,
+    purge_archived_history,
+)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -52,6 +57,25 @@ async def test_get_archived_history_filtering_and_pagination(app_db: str) -> Non
         assert rows[0]["ip"] == "2.2.2.2"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_get_max_timeofban_returns_latest_timestamp(app_db: str) -> None:
+    async with aiosqlite.connect(app_db) as db:
+        await archive_ban_event(db, "sshd", "1.1.1.1", 1000, 1, "{}", "ban")
+        await archive_ban_event(db, "sshd", "1.1.1.2", 2000, 1, "{}", "ban")
+
+        max_ts = await get_max_timeofban(db)
+
+    assert max_ts == 2000
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_get_max_timeofban_returns_none_for_empty_archive(app_db: str) -> None:
+    async with aiosqlite.connect(app_db) as db:
+        max_ts = await get_max_timeofban(db)
+
+    assert max_ts is None
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_purge_archived_history(app_db: str) -> None:
     now = int(time.time())