Resident urges Bourbon County to centralize cemetery deeds; commissioners discuss storage options

Heather Ethridge, who identified herself as a cemetery volunteer and president of a local cemetery association, told the Bourbon County Commission on Monday she has scanned lists of plots for Centerville and West Plains cemeteries and asked the county for a permanent place to store deeds and plot lists.

Ethridge said she bought flash drives with the intent of scanning deeds so the courthouse could keep digital copies. “We need to have some kind of thing that's going to be long term,” she told the commission, adding many original deeds are old or missing and that information is currently stored in tote bags and ziplock bags.

The need matters because Ethridge said older deeds and informal plot records can be lost when volunteers die, and that can complicate confirming who has rights to burial plots. “If something was to happen to me, nobody has access to the stuff, the knowledge,” she said.

Commissioners and staff discussed several options. One commissioner noted a state statute requires payment to the register of deeds for recording deeds, and that the register’s office will scan and store records that are submitted and paid for. County staff said some counties maintain their own databases; others rely on the register of deeds or on county-maintained electronic storage. A county staff member suggested a county web page or email upload as a low-cost option; another said the county could accept scanned files into a filing cabinet or provide a storage box but cautioned that county personnel would not be available to maintain the database without dedicated resources.

Ethridge said she is willing to prepare an Excel spreadsheet and help populate records if the county can provide a place to store scans or an account to upload them. Commissioners and staff encouraged coordination with township cemetery presidents, the county register of deeds, and local genealogy volunteers to identify a sustainable approach. No formal action or funding decision was made during the meeting.

The discussion followed public comment protocol; no ordinance or policy change was proposed at the meeting, but commissioners directed staff to continue to explore feasible options and to follow up with Ethridge about technical next steps.