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National News

Clark County, Nev., Recorder Opts For Mobility And Accessibility

July 03, 2013 posted by Steve Brownstein

The Clark County, Nev. Recorder’s Office has launched its new Web-based kiosk service, the latest phase of the department’s ongoing customer service-focused technology efforts, which already include a popular mobile version of the Recorder’s website.

In the release, County Recorder Debbie Conway said that Clark County wants to allow customers to complete transactions without waiting in lines. The machines also eliminate taxpayers’ need for excessive employee assistance.

“The vast improvements in kiosk technology have given us an opportunity to introduce a self-service that, in the past, required employee assistance,” Conway said in the release. “We will be able to offset or move more transactions from our front-line staff and to improve efficiencies.”

The kiosk is a freestanding, interactive machine with a touch screen interface that allows users to search for legal documents, including certified marriage certificates. The kiosk accepts payment via credit card instead of cash, and prints documents out instantly, eliminating the need for users to wait for mail delivery.

Courtney Hill, the office’s systems administrator, told Government Technology that the kiosk is basically a freestanding duplicate of the Recorder’s mobile website, which has been operational since August 2012, though it’s undergone successive iterations since its debut.

The county created the mobile website to address users’ growing mobile access needs. In the past, taxpayers used their mobile devices to access the Recorder’s traditional website, which hadn’t been optimized for mobile use and therefore created accessibility problems.

“It was because people were using their mobile phone or their tablet to place orders, and they weren’t coming through correctly," Hill said, "so we decided to make a website that was more mobile friendly."

Conway expects most of the mobile users to be realtors, mortgage companies, surveyors and appraisers who need information while they’re in the field. She told Government Technology that Clark County created the mobile version of the website in part to address their needs.

“We asked them to come together and tell us some of their concerns, and how we could make our office more user-friendly for them,” Conway said.

The Recorder’s Office discovered that housing industry professionals desired a convenient way to access property documents on-the-go. “When we had that conversation with them, we realized that they needed immediate access to our records.”

Hill said that the creation of both the mobile website and kiosk was financed by revenue from county recording fees, though he didn’t disclose a specific amount. The site, which was created in part by the JavaScript Object Notation programming language, has hosted 757 transactions since its August go-live date.

Conway said she feels that the office’s customer service endeavors could be an example for other jurisdictions to follow.

“This type of technology, it’s really unique," she said, "and it’s really something good for recorders all across the country."