COUNTY CLERK WINS 2007 NACo ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Carolynn Caudill to be Recognized During National Meeting for Records Preservation
Oklahoma County Clerk Carolynn Caudill today announced Oklahoma County was named winner of the 2007 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award. The announcement was made after the Board of County Commissioners received the award during their weekly meeting. Caudill and Oklahoma County will be recognized on July 15, 2007 during NACo’s Tenth Annual Awards Ceremony at their Annual Conference in Richmond, Virginia. Caudill is being recognized for converting Oklahoma County’s land record documents and indexes from paper format, to digital, which is now available (at no charge) to the public from 1890 to present. “I believe we are one of the first counties in the country to offer this level of service to the public”, Caudill said. The winning program “Records Preservation and Online Access of Land Records – 1890 to Present” was entered in the program area of Risk Management. This is one of the more than 20 categories eligible for the NACo award, ranging from arts and historic preservation to volunteerism. Caudill said, “Oklahoma County is one of 97 counties being recognized.” The award is a non-competitive program that recognizes counties for creative and innovative program development and implementation, efficient administrative management of county agencies and responsible government to local citizens. The award winning program will be entered in NACo’s database of successful model county programs to be shared with other member counties. Caudill said Oklahoma County is being recognized because, “We have accomplished what few, if any, other counties in the United States have. We not only have all of our paper records microfilmed and preserved according to the archival standards in Oklahoma, we have gone way above those requirements.” Caudill added, “Digitized records make it much easier and faster for both the public and our employees to locate documents in our office. One local attorney commented that our online records were like having the County Clerk’s Office on his desk top.” In addition to records preservation the County Clerk has implemented a disaster recovery plan by having a mirror site of all land records on an out-of-state computer. Caudill said, “If our local computer or paper records were destroyed by a tornado, our office can easily be back up and running processing documents offered for filing. This is important because our local land records are relied upon heavily in commerce not only for the buying and selling of homes, but also as collateral for personal and business loans. Our local commerce would most certainly be damaged if the county land records were destroyed.” Caudill said she was eager to share with others her success story and the lessons learned having planned and executed such a large comprehensive project. She believes the NACo Achievement Award will open more doors for her to educate others, and help other governmental entities preserve their valuable records. Caudill said, “When we preserve our public records we are preserving a piece of history for our children and our grandchildren. It is essential for the public to have easy and unfettered access to their public records. This is an important checks and balance within our system of government.” She believes a public servant has no greater duty than to protect and make available the public records under their care.
2007 NACo Achievement Award Certificate
Abstract of Records Preservation Program
June 27, 2007 |