County recorder sees new trouble with computers

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 9:32 a.m.

A year after Clark County Recorder Fran Deane was fined $5,000 for ethics violations relating to the installation of a multimillion dollar computer system, the recorder is investigating whether the computer system should be replaced.

Deane declined comment Thursday, but an assistant said the recorder's office is investigating augmenting or replacing the existing system.

Deane's public battles with the company that marketed the existing system sparked an ethics investigation and eventually an agreement with the state Ethics Commission.

Deane ended up paying the $5,000 fine but avoided other sanctions, which could have included her removal from office.

Deane, who took office in January 2003, said she blocked installation of a computer system that was designed to provide free Internet access to the public of recorded documents, particularly the office's millions of documents relating to property ownership and deeds. Deane said she took the action out of concern for the cost and utility of the Clark County-funded system, which was initially priced at $5 million.

However, Deane and partners, including former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, had begun the process of setting up a company that would have provided access to the same documents over the Internet -- for a fee. Deane said she anticipated profiting from the company, which ultimately never did business.

Assistant Recorder Charles Harvey said the office's "request for information" from potential computer-system providers is not related to Deane's troubles with the Virginia-based AmCad, the company that initially had the contract to install the system. The company has since passed the job off to Ohio-based Document Technology Systems, or DTS.

Harvey declined to release a copy of the request for information that went to computer technology companies, but the Clark County manager's office released a copy Wednesday.

The request is for "furnishing a records indexing and imaging system," the document states. "The system should provide for a computerized index of land records documents, marriage certificates, public access and Internet access to these and other miscellaneous documents processed by the Clark County Recorder's Office."

The request asks for responses by March 15.

"Right now we're looking at functionality and just exploring the options out there," Harvey said. "We're looking to upgrade what we have to respond better to the demand."

He said the request from technology providers is not directly related to Deane's issues with the original system providers.

DTS President Pat Kelly said his company is trying to work with the recorder to identify and potentially satisfy the technological needs.

"We have one goal and one goal only, and that is try to give her (Deane) as many tools as possible for her to do her job effectively," Kelly said.

A county spokeswoman said the manager's office, which has had an uneasy relationship with the independently elected recorder over the last several years, has no specific concerns about the request for information released by Deane's office.

"We have no new or special concerns as a result of this request for information," spokeswoman Stacey Welling said. "From our standpoint, she's requesting information to upgrade the existing system."

Any upgrade of significant expense would have to go before the Clark County Commission for approval, Welling noted.

The cost of the existing system, which now provides information online, could be significantly more than the $5 million paid to AmCad. County officials said the work space in the recorder's office had to be reconfigured to support the new terminals, staff went through sometimes long training sessions, and other hardware needed to be added.

However, Welling and Harvey agreed they did not know how much the existing system, including all related charges, cost.