The CARES Act is Getting Records Digitized

COVID-19 has been the unlikely driver of innovation in a number of industries, and it seems government is no exception as counties are digitizing records at a rapid rate thanks to CARES Act funding.  While things like court and land records might not be the first thing people think of when considering disruptions caused by the pandemic, but in many counties across the country, accessing these records is an in-person affair.

CARES Act disbursements can be used for expenses that:

1. are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19);

2. were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and

3. were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020.

In the past, the process of digitizing records might not be seen as necessary, but during the pandemic they have become so. Most counties don’t have staff actively digitizing records, so the process of doing so, even when that process is automated, is added expense for a local government. The only offsetting factors are the ease of access for citizens and the saved walkup traffic to view files, which are hard to quantify versus the scope of the project.

Here are a few recent examples of counties in Ohio taking advantage of the funds to make their records digital:

In Richland County, Ohio, CARES Act funds have gone first toward payroll, but funds have also been approved to keep county functions running properly during the pandemic.  This has included mobile hotspots for students and funds to digitize the county’s property records, going as far back as the 19th century.

Fairfield County, Ohio, has already received $2.4m in funding, but expects another $5.5m to come directly to the county.  Like in Richland County, the first disbursements went directly toward payroll and the government staff that now needs to spend extra time disinfecting, and later money has gone toward items that allow for both citizens and government employees to conduct work from home, like digitizing court records.

At Extract, our main aim is to aid in the digitization of records by automating necessary parts of the process like redaction or indexing. The funding that has been made available will allow courts and land records offices to complete these tasks that otherwise may have only been seen as an added expenditure, but will bring real benefits to employees and citizens.

If you’d like to learn more about how our software can help in the digitization of records, please reach out.