County clerk’s records to go online

    Thanks to a $52,894 grant from the Electronic Recording Technology Board, anything recorded in the Phillips County clerk’s office will soon be viewable online.
    The ERTB is housed in the Secretary of State’s office and recently awarded grants totaling $735,220 to Phillips, La Plata, Grand, Routt, Prowers, Rio Blanco and Yuma counties for upgrades to their record keeping systems. The grants help counties — especially in rural Colorado — invest in technological upgrades.
    Phillips County Clerk Beth Zilla explained that her office applied for the grant and that the upgrade will allow for much easier real estate searches once all the records are online. The first phase will include records from 1997 to the present. Following that, the process of digitizing older records — as far back as the 1800s — will begin. New records will be regularly added, so up-to-date information will be available online.
    While online access will be especially helpful for people seeking information from outside Phillips County, Zilla noted that residents will still be able to access records in the clerk’s office as they always have.
    It’s hard to say how long the entire project will take, but Zilla hopes to see it finished by the end of the year.
    The ERTB was created in 2016 with the mission of developing, maintaining, improving, replacing or preserving land records systems in Colorado. Since its creation, more than $2 million has been awarded to ensure county clerks are able to improve and maintain property records, marriage licenses and other important documents.
    “The Electronic Recording Technology Board is a great example of state government partnering with local communities to help them meet the needs of their communities,” Secretary of State Jena Griswold said. “I’m proud that this board helps rural counties invest in needed technological upgrades.”