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Burke County registered‑deeds office reports jump in passport and vital‑records work, flags fraud risks
Summary
Registered‑Deeds Clerk Stephanie Norman told commissioners the office saw large increases in passport applications and vital‑record requests, plans to begin issuing birth certificates for adopted people Jan. 1, 2026, and urged residents to sign up for a free fraud‑notification email service.
Stephanie Norman, Burke County registered‑deeds clerk, told the Board of Commissioners on Monday that her office has seen a sustained rise in work volume for land records, vital records and passports.
Norman said the office records roughly 12,000 land‑record documents a year and handles about 16,000 vital‑record requests annually. She said passport activity has surged: her office logged a 60.32% increase in passport applications year‑over‑year and was on track to exceed that level by the end of the fiscal year.
Norman described new authority the office expects to implement on Jan. 1, 2026, under recent legislation she identified as “Senate Bill 248.” She said the change will allow the registered‑deeds office to issue birth certificates for adopted individuals initially for births that occurred in Burke County; she said the county will expand to out‑of‑county births later in implementation.
On office operations, Norman said the office has introduced an AI quality‑assurance tool called “Courtney,” launched March 31, 2025, to help with indexing and error‑checks. Norman said the tool assists quality review but is not a staff replacement and that staff still perform multiple levels of review on recorded documents.
Norman also flagged growing threats from document‑related scams. She described foreclosure‑rescue schemes that often involve power‑of‑attorney misuse, notaries and, sometimes, attorneys. To help residents monitor activity, she encouraged signing up for the county’s free fraud‑notification alert system, which emails a resident when a document containing their name is recorded in the office.
Commissioners asked several clarifying questions about the statistics Norman presented. She said a reported 8.7% increase in birth certificates was a year‑over‑year comparison and that some averages were compiled using a five‑year lookback.
Norman ended by noting operational constraints that affect service speed — particularly limited office space and delays in receiving death certificates from medical examiners — and asked the board to consider facility and staffing needs as volumes grow.
The presentation was informational and no formal board action was required or taken on the Registered‑Deeds report.
