Thurston County, Washington

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Thurston County Washington

Digital recording kept us moving through the shut down

July 28, 2020
  –  
Mary Hall ,  
Auditor

​When we closed our doors at the beginning the pandemic, we had to come up with new ways to serve our customers. Every one of our services is essential, so we had to figure out some way to fulfill our mission with our doors closed. 

One such system, luckily, was all ready to go.   

Document recording has historically been a manual service. Recording is a legal process of putting property documents into the official records at the county. You are probably familiar with the process if you’ve ever bought a house. Deeds, easements, plats and other legal documents are all “recorded” or filed with the Auditor’s Office. 

We began offering eRecording documents a few years ago. Uploading legal documents to a secure portal is in the end more convenient, but despite the deep roots of the recording industry, it  was slowly catching on. Even up to the day we closed to the public, we' get document runners in our lobby with stacks of papers to record. 

Over three years since we started offering eRecording, our online recording rate has increased from 40 to 56 percent. And in the three months since we closed our doors, eRecording jumped up to 85 percent. The four title companies that file the bulk of documents with our office have switched to entirely eRecording. 

During the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order, moving recording transactions online kept us moving. As we reopen, eRecording will continue to protect public health by serving customers  outside of our lobby.   

Even before the pandemic, we were encouraging our customers to take advantage of our remote options because of our cramped quarters and limited parking at the courthouse. But because of the physically distancing needs in a pandemic, this is even more true. 

We have also moved our entire elections operation off site and established a drive through voter services model for the next two elections. 

Please take advantage of our remote services in recording, licensing and elections that are listed here. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to call or email us. 

Recording Services
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