By Ray King

The Jefferson County Quorum Court will consider a request from Circuit Clerk Barbara Collins to transfer money to the clerk’s Automation Fund to begin the process of converting the real estate process to electronic filing when they meet tonight at 5:30 p.m.

In a letter to Council Judge Gerald Robinson and members of the county’s legislative body, Collins said the benefits of converting to electronic filing will include ease of access to the records, reduce the need for physical storage space, eliminate insufficient funds and related costs, and provide remote access.

Also, Collins said it will eliminate spending $3,355 annually on recording paper and $13,393 annually on recording books.

Collins said in the letter that there is currently $30,000 in the automation fund that can be used toward the $58,000 that will be needed to implement the program.

A proposal to set a permit fee for hauling companies that use county roads is also on the agenda. Under the proposal, companies would be assessed a $50 fee per site. The permit fee is primarily geared toward logging companies but last week Robinson said it would also apply to other companies who haul heavy materials on county roads and damage the roadways. It would not apply to farmers.

Failure to obtain the permit would result in a fee of $500 for a first offense, not less than $1,500 and not more than $5,000 for a second offense, and not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000 for a third offense.

The Quorum Court will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the newly remodeled Quorum Courtroom.