!@#$%^ Land Records Office

Oklahoma's not that way...by State Statute we just pay to print. I had no idea anybody was charging for "photon" use....:bored:

Is this for an online record access or at the recorders office? I can kind of see charging a fee for online access.. but it still seems like an outdated policy. Their job is to ensure equal pubic access to records.. instead their goal seems to be to supplement their department's income as much as possible.

My county recorder wants $2 per page for copies, so I started taking a camera in to photograph the records instead. The employee stopped me saying photography wasn't allowed, I insisted they're public records and this is a public building.. Nonsense they try to restrict access to public records and charge an arm an a leg for a copy. I understand their money and funding is tight, but that's a two way street.

In Florida the laws says that "The clerk shall make available to the public a full size copy of the record plat at a reasonable fee."

In my neck of the woods that means $5.00 a sheet for plats and $1.00 a sheet for copies of anything from the public records. But, most everything is available on-line for free viewing and printing which saves a trip to the court house. However, most documents recorded before the mid to late 80's are not available on-line so then you do have to go and pay if you want copies.

The trend of the lease hounds that I know is to scan the pages with a wand.

For the past 5yrs our local county clerk's office has only provided digital records. There are no hard copies to take a picture of or scan with a wand.

The instructions on the front door of the courthouse states turn cell phones off and no cameras.

The county clerk has 90 days to return to the historical restored courthouse. Just waiting to see what is going to happen then.

> I can understand paying to print - but paying just to view.

Questions:

What did it cost to put the records on line?

And what does it cost to keep the website up and running?

What are the fees?

I've never heard of that for ANYTHING of public record.
Isn't that why it's called public record?
Prints or certified copies are a different matter - no problem.

Did you have to pay an admission fee to walk into the courthouse as well?
How about the 50 cent usage fee to walk through metal detectors.
I suppose then you would get an extra surcharge to have to get wanded.
😀

All free 😀

Deeds:

MDLandRec.Net

The Maryland Judiciary, the 24 elected Court Clerks of Maryland and the Maryland State Archives have joined in partnership to provide up to date access to all verified land record instruments in Maryland. This service is currently being provided at no charge to individuals who apply for a user name and password.

Plats:

Plats.net is a system developed by the Maryland State Archives, the Administrative Office of the Courts and Maryland Circuit Court Clerks to preserve and make accessible all plats filed with the Land Office and the Circuit Courts of Maryland.

Actually Big,

The only access due to you by legislation is the Public Records Act. That has a very specific outline on how to get records for free. You won't want to do it, as it will take forever, but, legally, that's all one has for free public access to public records.

Thank God that so many public entities don't fall back to that as SOP.

In Ohio, a reasonable fee is the cost of the supplies to make the copy.

We taxpayers already pay their wages for the indexing and the involved parties paid for recordation.

Ohio's attorney general has indicated that a recorders job is to do the upmost to make the records available and not to impede the public's access.

The AG has also stated, in writing that the simple act of photographing records is the same as viewing. As such, photographing of records can not be impeded, unless the recorder can actually show that it(the photographing), is damaging to the record.

Still . . . we have counties that charge $8 for a plat copy and we have at least one county that actively disallows digital cameras(that recorder claims she doesn't like the AG, and so won't abide by his ruling).

These records are yours . . . not the recorders records . . . your.

The recorder only records and keeps the records safe for the public.

. . . and it's NOT a for-profit business either.

Pima County in southern Arizona charges per page to view on line and you need to set up an account with them to see anything. It makes it tough if a document has 30 pages and you only really need a couple. quite a few counties in Arizona have at least some documents/maps + plats you can see + print for free - even it has some "copy" or other text across the image.

My county charges $15 for a copy of a plat. However, recently they finally pout all plats along with documents that have been recorded since about 1993.
The online plats and documents cost $1 with a $2 service fee added and must be paid by a credit card. You can view them before being charged.

do they charge you to walk into the office?

> > I can understand paying to print - but paying just to view.
>
>
> Questions:
>
> What did it cost to put the records on line?
>
> And what does it cost to keep the website up and running?
>
> What are the fees?

Some counties offer everything online for free, others have a fee just to print, and this one (at least) a fee to view/print.

I'm sure that it can't be that some counties are just nice. There must be some cost-savings to the county if people just stay home and don't come to the physical office (fewer staff needed, less space needed for books, etc.). I'm guessing that some counties use the fees as a money-maker, not just to cover the expenses.

It takes an employee the same effort to scan as it does to copy. And once a book is scanned, it rarely ever needs to be touched again.

I!@#$%^ Land Records Office

In Cambria Co. Pa, you can view the GIS. It's very nice. The deeds, on the other hand, are not online. They will never be online apparently. There are SS#s on them and addresses and phone numbers probably. You can use the computers IN THE OFFICE and the "historical" records are free to print. The newer deeds etc are for a fee. I think it's 0.50 per page. I would love to see the deeds online. Heck, I'd pay the subscription fee to have access to them but alas that will never be. Indiana Co. Pa is online and free to print right in your own office. The deeds are free but the tax map CD will cost you $125. What about updates you ask. You have to wait until they burn a new CD and pay for it. I think that's every 4 years. Somerset Co. Pa is online but uses Landex for the deeds. That thing is a PITA. The tax map system is pretty whack too. You guys with all the records online in your home county are lucky.

> by State Statute we just pay to print.

> Some counties offer everything online for free

> I'm sure that it can't be that some counties are just nice. There must be some cost-savings to the county if people just stay home and don't come to the physical office (fewer staff needed, less space needed for books, etc.).

> Did you have to pay an admission fee to walk into the courthouse as well?

> We taxpayers already pay their wages for the indexing and the involved parties paid for recordation.

> The recorder only records and keeps the records safe for the public.....and it's NOT a for-profit business either.

> do they charge you to walk into the office?

All of these comments miss the larger picture. NOTHING IS "FREE". All of this stuff has to be paid for somehow.....they are still providing a service, even though they are "public records". After all, they don't just accept maps and plans and throw them into a pile.....there's a process, which takes time and infrastructure, which means money.

Even if it's new cabinets, bigger computer servers, better copy machines, higher paper costs, whatever, it's all about costs. Even if it's "free" because you didn't hand someone a dollar bill, you are still paying for it somewhere, somehow.

If they don't get the money from these fees, they'll do something else, like raise taxes, or filing fees. The money has to come from somewhere. If they don't get the money that way, maybe the next step is laying off clerks and cutting office hours.

Finally, remember this....most successful businesses find a way to pass these costs onto their clients.

I!@#$%^ Land Records Office

NOTHING IS "FREE". All of this stuff has to be paid for somehow

TAXES
. . . TAXES
. . . . . . . TAXES

It has ALL been paid for through TAXES

. . . . NOT ONLY TAXES, bust also through FEES
. . . FEES
. . . . . . . FEES

It has all been paid for through taxes and fees

All the equipment has been paid for
All the employees have been paid for
All the supplies have been paid for
ALL the utilities have been paid for
ALL the retirements and vacations have been paid for

EVEN the cost of the elections to put these people in office have been paid for

No one is expecting A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G for free

We are expecting, at the least, at a "reasonable" cost, what has already been paid for many times over.

Of course any time any government agency can put their grubby little hands in our pockets, they'll do just that.

ANY TIME some money-hungry grubby little politician can make us believe we need to pay and pay and pay for what they're already been paid(very well too)to do and to make available . . . that's all the better.

If they keep their job long enough and screw us well enough . . . we'll even offer up a statue to them.

The office and personnel to run it aren't free so I can sympathize with the need to charge for copies in order to keep the records available. Traditionally, though, looking is free but copies cost dollars.

:good: :good: :good:

!@#$%^

First the government taxes and fees us to death for money to do a job, then they work on us(evidently very successfully), to make us believe that we should pay again for the privilege of being able to access the records.

Boy . . . are we ever suckers . . .