Counties collaborate to ensure security of electronic recordings

SUSSEX COUNTY - Sussex County Clerk Erma Gormley recently joined a number of other New Jersey clerks in celebrating a shared-services initiative to develop a backup site for the counties’ shared e-recording Web portal. The Web portal allows attorneys and financial institutions to electronically file and record deeds, mortgages and other land title-related documents with participating clerks and registers in the State of New Jersey. In the event of a natural or other disaster, the clerks and registers want a means in place to safeguard their public records, and they have an opportunity to do just that under New Jersey’s Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support (PARIS) grants program. Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells commended the clerks and registers for embracing the shared-services concept. “This grant supports a vital security enhancement to the participating counties’ e-recording portal, including a comprehensive communications and recovery plan,” said Wells. This cutting edge e-recording portal was launched in 2003 by the Monmouth County Clerk’s office and currently includes Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic, and Sussex counties. Sussex County Clerk Erma Gormley echoed the sentiments of State Records Committee Chairman Karl J. Niederer, saying “This outstanding project now will also establish an offsite backup vehicle equipped with the infrastructure and connectivity to provide mirror capacity for the operation of the portal, if a disaster or accident should disable the primary portal ... This e-recording portal is an excellent example of government utilizing technology and sharing services to lower costs and improve the benefits to our taxpayers.”