EDITOR:
Today, April 10, 2023 I celebrate my first 100 days in office. I thank the people of Platte County who had the confidence in me and voted me as your county recorder. In the name of transparency I wanted to highlight some of the changes I have made in the office of the recorder to make the office more efficient, effective and transparent:
The first act I created when I took office was to offer the marriage license application process online. This went live back on Jan 16. It has made the process of applying for a marriage license more efficient.
Implemented same day recording- we now record and return documents that are physically brought to the office on the same day. We utilize a new system to quality check the documents, record and return to you while you wait. I anticipate that this year alone we will reduce return postage costs to the taxpayer by 90%.
I have hired a new staff member that is paid for out of my budget with zero fiscal impact to you, the taxpayers, for the purpose of back indexing and placing more records online.
Implemented Mission and Vision statements that myself and the staff adhere to. Cleaned up and organized the office to reduce clutter.
Digitized basic office functions to reduce the making of copies, thus reducing the cost of overhead and supplies.
Maximized and utilized our e-recording system with more efficiency and effectiveness to over 80% online recordings now.
Our previous recorder, Gloria, did an amazing job starting the digitizing project and initially spearheaded the digitizing out of the recorder’s own budget. I was able to work with the commissioners and will have that $44,000 reimbursed back to the recorder’s office out of allowable ARPA funds.
I have advocated for the use of more user friendly documentation and indexing and worked with other officeholders and the commissioners on the “2023 Platte County Digitization Project” of which the commissioners made me the chairman of that ad hoc committee. We will use ARPA funds to digitize, index, and place more Platte County records and documents online that will be more searchable and convenient from your own office or home.
On April 1, 2023 a new update by our recording software iCounty went live, which will allow digital certified documents to be obtained online, including certified marriage licenses.
With this updated software we have a new Record Notification System or ‘RNS’. This allows a property owner to sign up, set their own parameters and be notified if something is recorded in their name, whether it be a fraudulent deed, or a tax or UCC lien against them. Oftentimes we don’t think about our property records and fraudulent deeds may be overlooked until we try to sell our home or in the event something else happens. This new system is user-friendly, and can be done within a created account or from a standalone link on the recorder’s website.
Human trafficking training–I attended the Human Trafficking Community Academy that was sponsored by the Jackson County Legislators in March. As the office that issues marriage licenses and because of our close proximity to an international airport and transcontinental highways it is imperative that I and my staff are trained on how to identify those who could be forced or manipulated into a marriage.
As my first 100 days in office come to a close, I look forward to the continued growth and progress in the recorder’s office and to be able to better serve the needs of the taxpayers of Platte County.
--Christopher L. Wright
Platte County
Recorder of Deeds