Larson, Snyder outline records, privacy and cybersecurity priorities at Winnebago County Register of Deeds forum

Christopher Larson, chief deputy register of deeds for Winnebago County, and Susan Snyder, Black Wolf town clerk and Republican candidate, addressed voters at a League of Women Voters Winnebago County candidate forum broadcast on Oshkosh Media. The forum covered the office’s records responsibilities, new privacy-shielding legislation, cybersecurity and customer service ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The Register of Deeds office, candidates said, maintains land records and vital records and must keep them accessible for title searches, family history and other public uses. "These records have to be available instantly," Larson said, describing the office’s imaging and indexing work and the need to make both historic and recent documents accessible. Snyder said the office's goals are "safe archival storage and convenient access for everyone to these public records."

Why it matters: the forum highlighted a pending shift in how some records may be handled. Larson and Snyder both raised privacy-shielding laws as a key upcoming change for register of deeds offices. Larson described recent legislation and related…