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Berks County streamlines notary registration and advances records digitization
Summary
The prothonotary and recorder announced that, following a state law change, notaries can now complete oath, bond and signature registration through the recorder's office; the county also reported progress scanning and indexing sheriff deed books and nearing 1,000,000 digital images.
READING, Pa. — County officials on Oct. 3 detailed administrative changes aimed at simplifying notary processing and improving public access to land records.
Prothonotary Jonathan ("JD") Delcalo and Recorder of Deeds Fred Scheeler said a 2022 change in state law allows the Recorder’s office to register notary signatures and transmit required materials to the prothonotary. Starting Oct. 1, notaries may complete their oath, bond and commission recording and signature registration through the Recorder’s office, reducing the need to visit multiple county offices.
Delcalo explained the administrative change was implemented after coordination with statewide associations and local officials. He said the change makes the process more efficient for notaries who previously traveled between separate offices.
The officials also described a records-preservation initiative: Scheeler funded and oversaw a project to scan sheriff deed books, provide the image files to the prothonotary and begin cataloging and indexing them for researcher access. "We're just about at 1,000,000 digital images," Scheeler said, underscoring the county’s push to preserve historical records and reduce wear on physical books.
Officials said the scanned images will be cataloged and made available to researchers, enabling staff to serve requests without handling fragile volumes. No new county budget line for the scanning was cited in the transcript; the Recorder’s office funded the initial imaging and is assisting with indexing.
