Columbiana Co., Chesapeake OK deal on records

Staff report

Columbiana

The Columbiana County recorder’s office and Chesapeake Energy have arrived at an imaging deal regarding county records.

Chesapeake will create digital images of county records and provide the county with the images on hard drive.

Craig Brown, the county’s recorder, said he believed the agreement would not only allow the energy company to serve the people it was doing business with better but would benefit Columbiana county residents for years to come.

“My primary concern with this project was that the data we would be receiving from Chesapeake would be in a format that could be accessed and used by county residents and others visiting the recorder’s office,” said Brown.

An agreement with Chesapeake was agreed to by county commissioners in November, but Brown said he had concerns “about how and when the project will be handled, as well as the searchability for county residents of county files.”

The main source of contention in the agreement was the manner images were to be named when provided back to the county. Chesapeake wanted a naming convention based on number of images, and the county recorder wanted images named in accordance with their assigned book and page number.

“As a recorder, my job involves assuring the safety and accessibility of public records,” explained Brown. “I needed to be assured by Chesapeake that our records would not only be safe, but that the images we receive back will be searchable and easy to use.”

Brown said that he received plenty of feedback regarding the project from local abstractors and many gas-industry landmen working in the courthouse. He said their primary concern was the importance of records being available to everyone, not just Chesapeake.

The contract states that the file naming convention will “include book and page identification corresponding to the first page of the record.”

The agreement also states that Chesapeake will provide the recorder with images, including the naming convention, within one year.

“This is a huge win for the county,” said Brown, who is happy with the contract. “We are getting several hundred thousand dollars worth of imaging complete, and we are creating a better work environment for business and county residents.”

For questions, contact Brown at 330-424-9517, ext. 1351, or via email at cbrown@ccclerk.org. Information about the Columbiana County recorder’s office is available at www.columbianacountyrecorder.org.