Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome. It is time now for community connection and to do today we have an X Smith. How are you doing, young lady? Great? How are you doing? I'm doing okay. What's going on down at the courthouse? Oh, I'm just kind of wanted to talk about some stuff going on in our office. And you know our office we do land records, We record documents, mortgages, deeds come in the other side of the office. Is
the bookkeeping side? So yet too two for the price of one, that's correct. Yes're efficient, Yes we are. We're very busy and have a great group of ladies that work for me, so they take really good care of the office. Today, I just kind of, you know, would like to talk about the land side. Let's do the land side, not the landslide, folks, and side of the office, and go ahead, what are you got well, and just kind of talk about, you know,
how many documents we take in in our office. Last year we took in eleven thousand documents. That's why. Yes, that is that is deeds, oil and gas and like said, mortgages, and thirty six hundred of that was E recording, which is Electronic filing allows abstractors different banks to e file and they do not have to come in our office. They do not have to mail in anything. It just comes in by way of you know, e filing. We file the documents and they get it right away.
Wow. That sounds quick and easy and again a vision it is. And especially during the COVID period, it just blew up. I mean we got you know, it just doubled the documents coming in. It was a life changing you know for well for some folks, I imagine, you know, it was like get her done or get her done, and the only way to get her done was to learn how to get on that computer and do it exactly exactly, had a process with a lot of people going that way.
Yes, wow, that is amazing and one of those things that at first you might have a little trepidade, little little fear, but once you go through it, it's like nothing that it's easy exactly. And also if we have to and the girls have to work from home, and our software allows for us to you know, take in documents at the home. If they have a computer at home, we have a log in. So that's
been really efficient for the office. Just in case you never know. Indeed, now with this type of electronic software that you use and what have you, comes in pretty handy. Folks don't realize that you really do need to have a record of things. You correct have to because if there's a dispute, no matter how minor, this pretty much tells the tale of the tape. Correct. And also, you know there's something that's been coming about is a land work land record alert system? Oh, tell us about that.
Yeah, And we have Kelpro that's located in Duncan. That's our software vendor. They have have a monitoring system that's included with our software. Okaycounty Records dot com. If you go onto their website you can sign up and this is a free monitoring system. What you do is typing your name or your legal description, create a free account, click on the monitoring and sign up with an email. So anytime a transaction is recorded in our office, you
will get an email. And it is from the time they sign up un till after. It's not anything previous. Wow, so this is really good. Yes, it is great, little cracker, Yes, it is great. Little keeping everything up to up to date and keep it nice and breath and that's correct. And now as county clerks were mandated by state law to take in a document and we do not police it. If it meets the state statutes of what's required on a document, we have to take it.
So if they're notified that, you know, hey, this is not my document, this is not my deed, they need to go to the sheriff's office, you know, by a police report, and then contact either an abstract or an attorney to handle this. We can't we can't take the document back out, but there is steps to proceed. You're not there to enforce,
you're there to pre career. That's correct, record correct. And in Washington County, I believe there's just maybe been a couple of incidents that's gone on, but I know, you know, in other counties this has gone on, So I do know. And the County Clerk's Association is trying to pass legislation to enforce you know, the notary, making sure the notary is abidened by the law, and that that did not get passed through, you know, last session. So we're going to try again this year, you
know, or I should say next year. So we'll keep trying to make a little enforced. That would be good because you know, you hear the term rubber stamp. Well, you don't want that notary to be rubber state. That is correct. So if there's some penalties, I it shdded tears some hopefully, yes, Oh gosh, well you know that kind of clears things up. You know what. I remember not long ago we were talking about how you were taking credit cards. Yes, and for some folks that
was a whole new deal. Yes, it was, and they're like, well, you don't need to check, you don't need the cashier's tax I can just do. Yeah, you can just do on the plastic. You can. You've done this so that it makes things easier for everyone. That's correct. Back in November twenty nineteen, we started the credit card system, that's right. Since then we have changed companies which allows and the percentage rate
is three point five. So on a twenty dollars document, it's seventy cents versus our old company that we used it was two dollars minimum per document recorded. So this saves the taxpayer some money if they want to come in and charge, and we we get quite a bit. Is some people kind of save their skin? Yes, it does yes, yes. And also this new system that we got, it allows for Apple pay, you know some of the Google pays things I don't understand, but everyone else does exactly.
Your staff knows it well. But yeah, I don't use it, but probably will before too logs. Yes. And also I'm going to touch on the monitoring system monitoring. Yes, if we could go back to that. If anybody wants to sign up for that, feel free to contact the county Clerk's office our numbers nine eight three three seven two eight for zero. The staff or myself can help step them through, or they can come in the
office and we will step them through for a free sign up. Do you have anything on your website there it did cut, Yes, we do. Start dot org. We're under your tab that talks about the monitorings. Yes, it does. Yes, if you go to the county clerk tab and it says little insert right there, and then there's a little you can click on okay county records and sign up. Also, wow, that's great.
How much does it cost? It's free? Got free? Yes, yes, and it's included with the software, so there's not an additional charge, which is very good too. Well, dang, you got to come by more often. Yeah, looks like hearing stuff like that. Yes, Oh, my goodness sakes, they treating you well down there, Yes they are. You're staying out of your way, Yes they are. Now, we've got a great group of commissioners say that, yeah, because they do.
They care about everybody. They do. We're a budget board. We've been a budget board since I believe two thousand and nine, and that has worked wonderfully. I've been you know, before I was county clerk, I was first deputy, been in the office since nineteen ninety and went to the meetings. Everybody's always worked well. And right now we're in the process of, you know, working with our final budget. We're getting the school budgets,
which is a starting you know, the for the taxes. There are steps that it takes to get to the tax part where Melissa sends out the taxes so you get them, ready, Melissa. Yeah, we get the school levies and yes, and then get it to Todd, and then Todd gives the tax row to Melissa, and Melissa sins everybody out, I gotta run that thing down the hall, don't you. Yes, we do. Now, if anybody has any questions, again, you gave out a phone number.
Can you repeat that for us? Yeah, the number nine three seven two eight for zero in the website and Okay County Records, no apologize. County Courthouse dot Org is where you can go to the county clerks and there's a little answert right there. And then the other website is Okaycounty Records dot com. Okay, so you have no excuse not to get a hold of the correct Yes, I want to thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me Toms great having you