Utah County recorder seeks 17 new staff, says office out of compliance with state law

County Recorder Andrea Allen told the Utah County Board of Commissioners on Monday that her office is out of compliance with state recording requirements and needs 17 additional staffers, new software licenses and an office remodel to meet statutory deadlines and reduce delays that are affecting title companies, permitting and 911 mapping.

"We are a fee driven office and people are paying that fee for a service and we're noncompliant in providing them that service," Andrea Allen said as she presented a detailed staffing plan. "To fund the entire 17 for the rest of this year, it would be $656,728; the full-year cost is $1,310,355." She added that onboarding and licensing add roughly $122,400 and an estimated licensing cost of about $71,787.

Allen proposed a mix of mapping, recording, customer-service and IT positions she said are necessary to clear a backlog and bring the recorder's office into compliance with state code. The listed positions include cadastral mappers (three tiers), recording associates (three tiers), customer-service associates and two dedicated programmers to support mapping and the county's land-record system.

Ralph Barnes, the county's human-resources official, agreed the need is significant but warned that onboarding dozens of employees at once is logistically challenging. "A large number of people to bring on at one time ... will be problematic and challenging," Barnes said, while noting recent hiring success and recommending a staged approach if needed. Patrick Guarra, director of information systems, said two full-time programmers dedicated to the recorder function would restore capacity for a system built over decades and is defensible given recent retirements in IT.

Commission staff clarified that the recorder's proposal would be funded from recorder fees, not taxes on residents. Commissioner staff member Lisa Shepherd reiterated that the fee structure is not a tax increase and that users of the recorder's services pay the fees.

Allen said full compliance could be achieved by the end of 2022 if hires proceed quickly and onboarding, mapping work and system integration proceed as planned. She urged commissioners to approve the full package so training could be done in coordinated groups rather than piecemeal. HR estimated prior large hiring drives took six to nine months to fill positions.

The recorder provided commissioners with a roster of proposed job classifications and cost estimates; commissioners asked staff to circulate the exhibit ahead of next week's regular session for a formal vote.

The broader context: commissioners debated in the same meeting whether some recorder fee revenue could be used to support related surveyor functions. The county attorney and deputy attorney had circulated a legal memo allowing some uses of recorder fees to support interdepartmental services when those services are necessary to operate the recorder's office. Commissioners asked for additional documentation and department-level breakdowns before approving transfers.

Next steps: the recorder's staffing request was placed on the agenda for a formal vote next week; commissioners asked for the full staffing exhibit and supporting analysis in advance of that meeting.