Duchesne County moves ahead with records-management platform; annual license set at $30,000

Duchesne County commissioners on March 31 authorized the county to enter a licensing agreement with a records-management vendor that will scan historical documents, index records with AI, and provide an online subscription service. The county will pay a $30,000 annual license fee under the agreement and retains a multi-year option to buy additional revenue share rights.

The platform vendor proposes automated document ingestion and AI extraction that will be integrated with the county's existing land-record system (COINS) and OnBase document storage. The county's presenter for the item said the system will speed indexing of current and legacy documents, reduce manual data entry and allow the public to purchase document copies online rather than having to visit the recorder's office.

Shelley Brennan, who introduced the proposal to the commission, described the current revenue arrangement and the optional buy-in: "Right now, I'm averaging, a hundred and $80,000 a year. So 5% of that is still about 9,000 a year," she said, explaining how the vendor splits subscription revenue with the county under the base contract and how a one-time payment would change the split. Brennan said the vendor offered a three-year period during which the county may exercise a one-time buy-in to increase the county's ongoing revenue share.

Under terms described during the meeting: the county will pay a $30,000 annual license fee. Subscription revenue currently returns 80% of the first roughly $180,000 to the county and gives the vendor 20%; after that threshold the split reverses unless the county exercises the optional buy-in. The one-time buy-in amount for the additional 5% revenue share was described as $200,000; the vendor also offered the county three years to decide whether to exercise that option. The presenter said the county could revisit the buy-in decision after seeing how the service performs.

Commissioners and staff discussed several operational details and caveats. The platform will require staff verification and parcel linking for older documents that lack parcel identifiers; the AI will extract metadata, but county staff will still validate and connect records to parcel numbers. The system also includes a planned mineral-ownership database as an additional product (a possible separate subscription or add-on) and functionality for subscribers such as title companies to view pages on a pay-per-view basis.

Commissioners voiced budget caution about a large one-time buy-in and asked for time to see how revenue and service performance develop. A motion was made and seconded to enter the annual licensing agreement at $30,000; the commission motion carried. The board also discussed revisiting the larger buy-in decision after operational experience and revenue tracking.

The county will retain final authority to set public-facing fees for document purchases (for example, number-of-pages pricing) and to approve any future changes to revenue-sharing or add-on product pricing.

The contract approval and discussion were made in open session; commissioners asked staff to return with performance and revenue data if the county considers exercising the buy-in option within the coming three years.

Ending: The county clerk/recorder and legal staff will finalize contract documents for signatures and the county will begin onboarding documents into the vendor's system per the agreed licensing schedule.