La Plata County has received a $350,000 grant from the state to update and improve its recording technology at the Clerk & Recorder’s Office.
The grant was awarded Dec. 9 by the Colorado State Department’s Electronic Recording Technology Board, which was created in 2016 to help develop, maintain and improve land record systems throughout the state. Since 2016, the board has doled out more than $5 million across Colorado, state records show.
“These investments have been critical to rural communities’ ability to upgrade their systems.” Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a prepared statement.
La Plata County Clerk & Recorder Tiffany Parker said her office uses equipment and software to record land documents such as deeds, loans and easements, which go into the county’s database for review by title companies, lenders, attorneys and the general public.
“We make a record … and preserve it forever,” she said.
But the county’s equipment is sorely out-of-date, Parker said. And because of budget constraints, the Clerk & Recorder’s Office hasn’t updated and maintained it. Parker said her office can barely afford the software itself, which costs about $15,000 a year.
The state grant, however, will alleviate many of these issues.
The Clerk & Recorder’s Office is turning to digital data to replace antiquated handwritten ledger books, making it easier to access and search for land records, including historical records from 1874 to 1989.
After the upgrades, the documents will be readily available online, without a trip to the office.
“Right now, you can find that history, but it takes extensive research,” Parker said. “It really is the insurance for landowners who want to know liens, easements, restrictions.”
Parker said the $350,000 grant will be used as a one-time cost and take about a year to implement.
The funds allocated by the Electronic Recording Technology Board are slated to sunset in 2021.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
