J1: Panel Discussion C Thursday, 1:30 – 2:00 pm C Lake Superior Ballroom O

Proposed Land Record's Modernization Program for Minnesota

Jay Wittstock
URS/BRW
Thresher Square
700 3rd Street South
Minneapolis, MN  55415
Jay_Wittstock@urscorp.com

Luci Radde Botzek
Capitol Connections
26 East Exchange Street #414
St. Paul, MN  55101 

This proposed Land Records Modernization (LRM) program is designed to address the needs of all counties and the State as they seek to automate their land records.

If Minnesota wishes to fully participate in the emerging world of e-commerce, government data, including land records, these records must be maintained across the state in an electronically accessible manner. Some counties have already invested in new technologies, which allow for imaging of documents, automated indexing, electronic maps and other related efforts. A lack of resources, both financial and human, limits the effort of many counties.

Throughout Minnesota and beyond, property owners, mortgage companies, insurers and government agencies depend upon information and data about land, its use and its ownership to answer basic questions asked by policy makers and citizens.

Much of the data needed to address these issues is generated from parcel level transactions and is maintained by Minnesota counties and some State agencies. This data includes deeds, mortgages, surveys, land use, land cover, soils, plat maps and property tax information. The availability of modern technology allows these records to be utilized more effectively, managed more efficiently and to be more accessible, while maintaining the accuracy and integrity of those records.

The proposed Land Records Modernization program would be a funded program that would support counties in their efforts to modernize the management and use of land records within a statewide framework.