Craighead County now accepting electronic filings

JONESBORO — Craighead County has joined nearly a dozen other Arkansas counties that now accept electronic filings of titles, deeds and other documents as a time- and cost-saving measure, Circuit Court Clerk Ann Hudson said.

Craighead County contracts with three electronic-filing vendors that enable banks, attorneys, title companies and lien filers to submit paperwork online to the clerk’s office.

“We’re trying to make it easier for our constituents,” Hudson said. “It cuts down on so many steps that we had to take, and it saves time for them.”

She said the filings are logged, and any payment is rendered electronically. It eliminates scanning and returning documents by mail, she said.

The county first tested electronic filings in July, Hudson said, and began accepting filings from other businesses in October.

Van Winton, owner of Community Title and Escrow in Jonesboro, was the first to file documentation of a title online to the courthouse.

“It’s better than taking it up there to the courthouse and having a chance that it could get stuck with some other document,” Winton said. “It’s been great.”

Previously, he said, he sent “runners” from his downtown Jonesboro office, which

is about two blocks north of the courthouse, eight or nine times a day with paperwork that needed filing.

“You’d have to deal with the weather and the potential for any accidents if our people were always driving,” he said.

“Arkansas is known as a ‘race state,’” he said. “You have to race to the courthouse. The first one there wins. If you’re trying to get a title there and someone with a lien beats you, you’ve created an issue.

“It’s come to the point that you better get with the program or it will run off and leave you. Ann [Hudson] has done a great job keeping ahead.”

Hudson said the online service allows customers to file from out of town without driving to Jonesboro. It also eliminates the time spent waiting for return mailing of documents, she said.

“We’ve got banks from other states sending titles over,” she said. “It’s a real time-saver.”

For a monthly fee, businesses can subscribe to a service offered by the county that provides access to the courthouse documents. Also, she said, customers can pay a one-time search fee if they are looking for specific information.

“People can get information from anywhere now,” she said.

Hudson said she anticipates lawyers soon being able to file legal briefs and court responses electronically.

“It’ll come,” she said. “We’ve got the system ready.”

Eleven other Arkansas counties, including Pulaski County, use electronic filing — and more are headed that way, said Chris Villines, the executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties.

“This is fantastic for title companies,” said Villines, who worked as a “runner” for title companies in Saline and Washington counties. “We’re seeing a trend that’s moving more that way. You can save postage, and it’s more convenient. Anytime we can save that, it’s a great advantage for county taxpayers.

“People can file at any time,” he said. “It’s not like the courthouse really closes anymore.”