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Weber County officials describe proposed DocuSign AI to automate recorder's office
Summary
At a March 31 Weber County Commission recap, surveyor recorder Bahir Rahimzada outlined a proposed DocuSign AI contract to automate manual document review, speed public access to property records and reduce routine staff tasks, with commissioners citing potential savings via attrition; no formal vote was recorded.
At a Weber County Commission recap on March 31, surveyor recorder Bahir Rahimzada presented a proposed contract to purchase a DocuSign AI system intended to automate manual review and transcription of recorded documents.
Rahimzada said the system "will help automate our processes," allowing the office to "skip" two manual steps in the current workflow and free staff to focus on more specialized tasks. He described the tool as including an AI search that would let members of the public search in natural language for property documents, rather than relying on legal descriptions or parcel numbers, and said users would be able to access a full abstract of property-related records via a website (with a possible app later).
"When people want to do some searching online, they don't have to do keyword searches," Rahimzada said, explaining the public-access feature. "You will get all your documents that pertain to your property, a full abstract free of charge where you're able to look at each document." He also said the vendor's pricing was substantially lower than alternatives the office had considered and that some of the contract cost could be absorbed by not filling an unneeded position in the surveyor department.
Commissioners framed the purchase as a way to prepare for high workloads and to realize savings through natural attrition rather than layoffs. A commissioner thanked Rahimzada, noting he had mentioned in a budget work session that the county could "utilize attrition to save money in the office" if the program was acquired.
Rahimzada cited recent recording volumes to justify the investment, saying the office processed about 46,000 documents last year and that volumes were higher during the COVID peak; the transcript contains an unclear numeric reference to that period. The transcript does not record a formal motion, vote or final decision on the contract.
The presentation focused on efficiency gains, public searchability of recorded documents, and a proposed approach to budget savings via attrition. The item was presented and discussed; no formal action or implementation timeline was recorded in the provided transcript.
