Tompkins County Clerk Maureen said Sept. 4 the county will use a New York State archives grant to rescan historic naturalization records in color and use AI-based handwriting recognition to index the files, then join a database shared with Queens and Bronx counties so the records become searchable online. "I'm excited about this," Maureen said. "Technology has finally caught up where it can read all those weird handwritings and index it for us."

The county's indexed material will include naturalization records from about 1895 through 1950, Maureen said; records dated after 1950 will not be released because they must remain closed for 75 years, she said. The county will host its own copies but will also join the larger borough database to increase public access.

Maureen described the contractor's uses of modern imaging and machine-learning tools: color rescanning of older photocopies, AI transcription of cursive handwriting to extract searchable fields, and automated reconstruction of damaged pages. "It can actually rebuild it in layers and make it look like brand new almost," she said.

Committee members noted a recent surge in public requests for naturalization records, including people researching ancestry and pursuing foreign citizenship claims. Maureen said the project will help residents find records themselves online without repeated staff searches.

The county stores many older original volumes at the Seneca Army Depot; Maureen said many of the earliest materials exist now only as photocopies. She did not give a firm timeline for completion and said the schedule is "not specified."