Morrow County property owners, realtors and bankers will soon have an online tool to check land records such as mortgage releases, easements, deeds and other records on file in the county recorder’s office. The indexes for everything that relate to real estate will be available in the online program called “Record Room”. The online software will store property owners’ names after they are entered at the Recorder’s Office.
Morrow County Recorder, Dixie Shinaberry said this new, cloud based records system will be rolled out in a pilot program in Morrow County with Cott Systems of Columbus, an information management company. Beginning in late summer, record indexes can be accessed by the public anytime.
The Record Room link at the Recorder’s office site will have the indexes of the Recorder’s office, but not the documents themselves online.
Customers can search from their home or business online to find any of the information in the indexes, such as the mortgage release, deeds and other indexed information. To look at a document, or get a copy of the document they will still need to come into the Recorder’s office.
Anything from 1994 to the present can be seen on the indexes. Shinaberry said that a popular search will no doubt be for people to look up online to see if a mortgage has been released by a bank or lending institution.
Cott Systems Vice President, Steve Gilbert called this pilot program in Morrow County “historic” for both the company and Morrow County. Cott Systems is a 125 year old firm that makes the original hard copy recorder books for counties in Ohio and around the nation. Morrow County has also used their online system in the office for several years.
As Cott Systems makes the transition from hard copy to digital they have chosen the Morrow County Recorder’s Office as their pilot program for the system. Cott’s current land records system has 300 customers in 19 states.
Shinaberry said she is “humbled” that they chose Morrow County as their pilot county. She noted that Morrow County seldom is chosen as a pilot for any program. She said that Cott Systems has been working with her office and staff to hear any concerns they have.
“They (Cott Systems) paid attention to our concerns,” said Shinaberry. “I hope that our experience with the program will be useful for other counties who are possible clients.”
Shinaberry also acknowledged she is proud that she and her staff were chosen for this pilot program. She said the Recorder’s office has been using the Cott Systems company since 1979 when Eleanor Smith was Morrow County Recorder.
Gilbert and Shinaberry agreed that the biggest advantage of the new “Record Room” is that it is web based and has great search functionality. They compared the simplicity and ease of use to a Google search.
