Reno County Register of Deeds outlines plan to finish digitizing records, add fraud alerts and seek staff support

Michelle Updegrove, Reno County register of deeds, told the commission she will launch new records software and pursue third‑party indexing and staffing to finish digitizing the county’s land records.

Updegrove said the office will go live on Enterprise Records Management from Tyler Technologies on Feb. 17 and that e‑recording already lets many transactions complete in minutes. She asked the commission to authorize use of the county’s technology fund to hire a vendor to index scanned images and to consider adding a full‑time employee to help complete the digitization project.

The register described the current state of the office’s records: most paper records have been scanned, but a large portion are not indexed to searchable fields such as buyer, seller, recording date and legal description, which prevents outside researchers from locating documents without visiting the office. Updegrove said the office currently has four staff members, including one who works about 19 hours per week on digitization work and cannot finish the required indexing in a timely way.

Updegrove said she is collecting quotes from vendors including US Imaging and Celina Blue to perform indexing on a three‑tier quality‑checked basis — indexers, a checker and a verifier — so the vendor, not the county, bears first‑line responsibility for index accuracy. She said the county’s information technology group provides the imaging and that a third party would provide the data entry/indexing only.

The register also said publishing indexed records online through a subscription model would create a modest new revenue stream that could cover ongoing maintenance and hosting costs for the new land records management system. She noted the office charges roughly $1 per copy page today and that wider online access would change how researchers pay for records.

On fraud protections, Updegrove described a forthcoming property‑fraud alert feature in the new software. Residents will be able to register an email address and legal description; the system will send a notification if a recorded document contains the registered name or legal description so property owners are alerted quickly and can contact counsel to begin remedies.

Updegrove said state statute KSA 58‑22221 requires the register to timestamp documents when received and that timely recording preserves lien priority; she warned that the office lacks discretion to refuse properly completed documents and that the best protections are careful notarization checks, notary verification and early notification through fraud alerts.

Commissioners asked about fraud risk, prior failed digitization efforts and vendor quality control. Updegrove said prior problems stemmed from mismatched imaging software during a previous project and that she will work closely with IT on integration and on choosing a vendor with strong verification procedures.

Updegrove said finishing indexing would also free physical storage space at the annex and could allow the county treasurer to expand into vacated space. She said she hopes to complete the digitization project by the end of the year and will return with a formal proposal and vendor quotes for commission approval. Ending

Updegrove concluded by thanking commissioners and noting several upcoming industry meetings for continuing education.