Hocking County recorder outlines plan to digitize records, cites fee changes and indexing refunds under HB 94

Teresa Salazar, Hocking County Recorder, told the commissioners she completed a busy first year in office and outlined steps the recorder's office is taking to comply with House Bill 94 and expand digital access to county records.

Salazar presented year-over-year figures: the office processed 4,222 documents in 2024 and 4,375 documents in 2025. She said revenue increased (she cited totals of $121,822.35 for 2024 and $367,334.85 for 2025) and attributed part of that increase to a $5-per-document filing fee implemented under House Bill 94. "In February, we started the $5 per document, not per page, but per document filing fee that was allowed by the Ohio Revised Code as part of House Bill 94," Salazar said.

The recorder described several operational changes meant to improve public access and efficiency: enabling credit-card payments and e-mail delivery of requested documents, reducing in-office copying reliance, offering a free property-fraud alert service, and streamlining document types (from roughly 400 document types to about 300) to simplify indexing and electronic filing.

Indexing and technology plans

Salazar said the office recently paid $33,024.16 to vendor Fiddler for document indexing and that the county has submitted that payment to the state for reimbursement; she reported most of a $140,000 indexing project has been refunded so far. The Fiddler contract is up for renewal on March 1 and Salazar said she will review costs before signing any extension.

She outlined plans to eliminate reliance on microfilm and to host a county-controlled backup to meet the two-copy requirement for records: "If we digitally have met the requirement, then feasibly, I should be able to just put it in the repository," she said. The office is working with a vendor called EPN and coordinating with the auditor's office and mapping department to enable full e-recording and public access. Salazar seeks to have records available online by April 7 and acknowledged the statutory compliance deadline of June 30.

Salazar emphasized outreach and education, noting growth in people signing up for services and efforts to publicize the free property-fraud alert. She closed by reiterating the office will continue to seek state reimbursement where eligible and will consult the board before entering new contracts that use county-provided funds.

What to watch

Key near-term items include the Fiddler contract renewal on March 1, the April 7 target for online availability of indexed records, and the June 30 compliance deadline tied to House Bill 94.