The Des Moines Register published an article today entitled «2 counties shun Web land list.» Hamilton and Hardin Counties are, in point of fact, violating Iowa law.
I have been the Iowa State Bar Association’s representative on the Electronic Services System committee. The ESS committee has struggled mightily to get these counties to pay their share of operating costs and to participate in the project.
The privacy concerns raised by the county representatives are, frankly, red herrings. There are several reasons the privacy rhetoric just does not stand up to scrutiny:
- The Hamilton County and Hardin County Treasurers and Assessors publish all of their data on the Internet. You can, therefore, find all of the information you want on the location and value of real estate. You can find out how many potties someone has. You just cannot see the document used to transfer the land and the potties.
- The redaction process is well under way. The ESS project is checking all of the new documents and will be checking all of the old images for the personal information protected by state law.
- It is already illegal for document preparers to submit documents for recording that include protected personal information. If the recorders in these counties are concerned about publishing protected information, it is in their hands to deal with the preparers of documents who are illegally including such information. But, moreover, to suggest that there is an epidemic of attempts to record documents with Social Security numbers and the like is just plain incorrect.
These are irrefutable facts. Another truth is that these counties have been refusing to pay their share of the costs of the project. It is easy, therefore, to draw some conclusions about the situation. This is a struggle about paying their share of the costs and not wanting to be told by “Des Moines” what to do. Unfortunately, the rest of us have to pay for their intransigence as well.
