ST. CLAIRSVILLE — After years of work, Belmont County Recorder Jason Garczyk announced to Belmont County commissioners Wednesday that all county property deeds since the county’s birth in 1801 are now online for public viewing.

Garczyk said all of the information is on the Belmont County Recorder’s website which is Belmontcountyrecorder.org. Once accessing the website, viewers can go to the land records management system search bar which is on the top right corner of the website.

“I think any attorney, any title searcher or abstractor will attest to the greatness of this, because it helps expedite the process of a title search,” Garczyk said. “We saw that especially with COVID, when everything got shut down and you had limitations of records, the Governor’s office issued us a decree that we were an essential office, because we needed to keep that going. I’m very appreciative to get this done.”

He then held a large book that before the scanning was one of hundreds of books that were the only place these records were stored.

“​​I had a whole bunch of books, like 600 books that got scanned which was about 370,000 images all together that got scanned,” Garczyk said. “They were actually scanned off site. It was an Ohio firm called Scan Works up in Cuyahoga Falls. They took the records temporarily and brought them back. Honestly, they were very great to work with and I’m very pleased with the work.”

He added that his office found a few issues during the scanning which were immediately corrected by Scan Works.

“Whether it was formatting issues or the quality of the scans, they made it right. It delayed us just a little bit, but we were still on time, and came in under budget,” he said. “I expected the project to come at a higher dollar, and so I was able to return the funds that I didn’t use to the commissioners.”

Garczyk said he had identified the need for this project even before coming into office in 2021.

“The cost of the project altogether is about $70,000 using ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. It cost $62,000 for the scanning, and then $8,000 for the conversion of the data to then migrate into our system,” he said.

He added that he treats the public’s dollars very responsibly, and wants to make sure that he only uses what is absolutely necessary and never overspends or wastes tax dollars.

Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton praised Garczyk’s dedication to preserving history while making it easier for residents looking for deeds in the community.

“In all honesty, the Recorder’s Office is a critical function for county government, Jason and his team does a phenomenal job,” Dutton said. “I would take our Recorder up against any other recorder in the state of Ohio, frankly, in terms of the job that he does.”

He added that this project is just another example of elected officials working together.

“It doesn’t always happen 100% of the time but this is what we should be doing,” Dutton said. “This is also another example of when federal funds can make their way directly to the local level. I think they can have a real immediate impact and go for really good uses.”

Belmont County Commissioner Jerry Echemann said he believes Garczyk is incredibly cautious any time he uses taxpayers dollars.

“When he says he’s careful with taxpayer dollars, I know that he means that from the bottom of his heart, and he understands those are your dollars. He is careful,” Echemann said.