SIDNEY — It has been a great year in the Shelby County Clerk of Courts Offices.
“We started the year out with mandatory electronic filing (E-filing) for civil cases and domestic cases in the Legal Office,” said Clerk of Courts Michele Mumford. “In August, we began mandatory E-filing for criminal cases after the arraignment process. We have registered over 550 attorneys and court staff for the capability to E-file new cases and subsequent filings.”
Her report continues:
In 2017, we had close to 40,000 case filings E-filed into the system. E-filing has helped to streamline how cases are filed and processed. For the year we had 325 criminal cases, 202 divorce/dissolution cases, 256 civil cases, 23 Court of Appeals cases, and 942 judgment liens filed, which would include Certificates of Judgments and State Liens.
We are also continuing to use the Attorney General to assist in our collection efforts and are very pleased with the results at $41,059.26 collected. In 2017 we also began a special project to scan in older records. This will allow the public to access more records online. Copies can easily be made from the scanned documents. We have many old records, so this will be a “work in process” for quite some time.
The title office had an exciting 2017 beginning with the implementation of the new Automated Title Processing System (ATPS). ATPS includes special features that allow the office to scan a customer’s driver’s license rather than having to type in their information. This allows us to enter the customer’s social security number without requiring them to say it out loud or write it on a piece of paper. It also helps us avoid clerical errors. Another feature added to the new system is a GEO Code search. This search verifies the way the address is entered and also the county of residence. With the addition of these features the Shelby County Title Office has been able to reduce the number of title reprints due to clerical error by nearly 30%. In 2017 the Title Office processed 20,377 titles, 404 passport applications and assisted customers in registering 870 boats.
In both the Legal and Title Offices I have great staffs, always willing to go above and beyond to help our customers. I can’t say enough about my staff. They do a terrific job and I’m very proud of the job they do every day.
On a side note, for the year 2017, I had the privilege of representing Shelby County as President of the Ohio Clerk of Courts Association (OCCA). It was a very busy year, but it went by so quickly. One of the many duties as President of OCCA is getting to select a charity for the OCCA Summer Conference and Winter Conference. This year’s charity for Summer Conference was the Shelby County Historical Society. Tilda Phlipot, director of the Shelby County Historical Society spoke to the OCCA. She explained what the Shelby County Historical Society does to benefit the citizens of Shelby County. For Winter Conference I selected Ohio Concerns for Police Survivors (Ohio COPS). Ohio COPS is an organization that helps support the family of any law enforcement officers wounded or killed in the line of duty in Ohio. A very moving presentation was presented by Thomas Rees Jr., vice president of the Ohio COPS. Money is collected for these organizations by the Clerks of Courts and their staffs donating money and/or items to be auctioned off during the conference. All of the money collected during that conference goes to the chosen charity.
Thank you for allowing me to be your Clerk of Courts. It is an honor to serve Shelby County.
