Friday, Sept. 12, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.
The Clark County Commission on Tuesday will consider a contract amendment that could settle a simmering dispute between a company providing computer services to the recorder's office and the county.
The deal, if approved, would protect the county from legal action by Virginia-based AmCad, which has charged that the failure to fully implement the new computer system is wholly the responsibility of county staff and Clark County Recorder Fran Deane. The deal would also rule out the possibility of a suit against Deane when she acted in "her official capacity," according to county and AmCad officials.
However, the company could still sue Deane if she acted outside her official capacity -- what one county official admitted could be a gray area.
The amendment on AmCad's $4.9 million contract would grow by about $25,000 and 11 months, so that the process of putting documents on a new computer system, originally scheduled for completion last spring, would be completed in March 2004.
The work, originally contracted with the strong support of former Recorder Judith Vandever, would make the documents such as property records and birth, death and marriage certificates available on a computer system at the county, and ultimately available over the Internet for the general public.
Assistant County Manager Rick Holmes said the contract amendment, if approved Tuesday, would shift the scope of the contract that originally called for the recording of millions of documents that went back to 1988. Instead, the priority documentation and validation -- a critical step that has been missed over the last several years -- would be completed from September 2001 through December 2002.
Holmes said older records could be converted in house by trained county staff or through a request-for-proposal from an outside source.
The shift in priority is already in place, he said.
"What happened was essentially a shift in the contract based on instructions from the recorder's staff," Holmes said. "Money from the historic imaging was shifted to the validation process."
Such a shift would normally require a formal contract amendment, Holmes said.
"The board (County Commission) never saw that change in the contract," he said.
Deane said she had no comment on the contract amendment except to say that she will attend Tuesday's commission meeting and that all of her activities with regard to the AmCad were within the bounds of her official duties.
Deane has admitted obstructing the contract, but only after AmCad delivered a bill for $2.3 million above the original contract price. She has sharply criticized the company's ability to complete the work.
Holmes said that if Deane took action outside of her official responsibilities, the county would not pay for her defense. The company specifically reserved the right to pursue legal action, he said.
"They want to be able to pursue claims and damages," Holmes said. "I'm sure there's a gray area, but there may be things so extreme that they fall outside of her normal responsibilities."
He said one issue the company was concerned about is that Deane has criticized the company to other recorders around the country.
Ron Cornelison, AmCad president, said legal action is not a foregone conclusion.
"I'm sure the situation with the recorder will improve once the system is installed and she will understand we are her friend, not her foe," Cornelison said. "We are not waiving any rights to any litigation that we may find necessary. We certainly hope that's not the case."
The recorder's office has been the subject of scrutiny since March of this year, when Deane turned off phone access for the general public to her offices, which provide an essential function of documenting property and life milestones.
After nearly a month, Deane turned the phones back on. She said at the time the move was needed to catch up on a huge backlog of work. Last month, AmCad accused the recorder of deliberately blocking its contract with the county.
She then admitted moving to incorporate an independent company to sell access to county records over the Internet.
Deane withdrew the proposal. However, the revelations of personal and official issues have prompted calls for her resignation.
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