From Horse and Buggy to High Tech

Caudill says Oklahoma County can set the standard for State
 

Oklahoma County Clerk Carolynn Caudill believes technology creates efficiencies that save taxpayers money as well as making it easier for businesses and citizens to access their public records. “We celebrated the land run this past week and it reminds me of how far we have progressed as a state.  We have gone from horse and buggy to high tech. That is especially true in our real estate filing office,” said Caudill.

“Gone are the days when attorneys, abstractors and landmen would spend hours and even days manually sorting through thousands of documents doing title work. Today their searches are done much quicker with our land records online from 1890 to present. Computer technology has advanced tremendously over the past 15 years.  The laws and public policy have not kept pace with advancements,” Caudill said. 

In 1994 Bill Loving, President of Freedom of Information Oklahoma stated, “It is important for the government to create clear law and public policy that assure widespread access to electronic public records.”  He went on to say, “We have been living in an electronic age for years now, and we need to change from a horse-and-buggy mentality to one in which we recognize that in many cases the only meaningful access to records is access to the electronic forms.”   

Caudill said, “Mr. Loving’s statements are just as relevant today as they were in 1994. Legislation was introduced this year to create a task force on digitizing the county records of all Oklahoma counties.  This legislation is for County Clerks to digitally preserve and archive the county records, but it also recognizes our records are vitally important for the economy and future business and industry in the State of Oklahoma.  There was similar legislation introduced last year.” 

Whether the law finally passes and is signed into law, Oklahoma County’s land records won’t be included because Caudill has been progressive and already digitized the county’s land records from 1890 to present.  The records are available online at no cost to the public.  “Social security numbers have been redacted from these online records,” assured Caudill.  “There is no other government entity in the state that has done as much as we have to protect the public’s records,” Caudill added. 

Caudill is eager to assist the task force members once the legislation is signed into law.  “I have been a leader in this area and have blazed the technology trail.  Oklahoma County can set the standard and be a positive example of how the counties can digitally preserve their land records on a statewide basis. We can help some of these smaller counties convert their manual records to the computer - from horse and buggy to high tech,” said Caudill.

April 24, 2008