Electronic Recording Technology Board Awards Grants to Phillips, La Plata, Grand, Routt, Prowers, Rio Blanco, and Yuma Counties.

Denver, June 28, 2019 – The Electronic Recording Technology Board (ERTB), housed in the Secretary of State's office, has awarded grants to Phillips, La Plata, Grand, Routt, Prowers, Rio Blanco, and Yuma Counties for upgrades to their record keeping systems. The ERTB was created in 2016 with the mission of developing, maintaining, improving, replacing or preserving land records systems in our state. The grants help counties -- especially in rural Colorado -- invest in technological upgrades.

At today's meeting, four counties were awarded grants totaling $635,526, the largest amount given in any month since the ERTB was created in 2016.

• Routt: Awarded $123,412 for onsite digital preservation of historic land preservation books and development of an historical Routt County search site.
• Prowers: Awarded $346,605 for digital scanning of land and other preservation books, including deed records from 1889 – 1971.
• Rio Blanco: Awarded $135,688 for digital scanning and indexing of historic land preservation books.
• Yuma: Awarded $29,821 to digitize records and web-enable records for public viewing.

In May, the ERTB awarded grants to three counties:

• Phillips: Awarded $52,894 to update the existing system with new hardware, server replacement, and to offer online access.
• La Plata: Awarded $3,460 to convert documents from the legacy system to Document Pro.
• Grand: Awarded $43,340 for digitizing records, maintenance, and online access.

"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. I'm proud that this board helps rural counties invest in needed technological upgrades," said Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

The ERTB was created in 2016, after a working group made up of real estate, title, lending, and legal professionals, as well as county subject-matter experts conducted an evaluation of Colorado’s recording systems. Since the board's creation, more than two million dollars has been awarded to ensure county clerks are able to improve and maintain property records, marriage licenses, and other important documents.