New Online Service At Clerk’s Office Can Cut Wait From Days To Hours
Posted: September 19, 2011, By JEREMY HUNT

HARRISONBURG — From marriage licenses to deeds, when people need records from Rockingham County Circuit Court, they often need them in a hurry.

Court Clerk Chaz Evans-Haywood says a new system that allows requesting and obtaining records electronically makes that process simpler and more efficient.

Previously, people unable to physically visit the courthouse had to call in to request a document, pay over the phone with a credit card and wait for it to be mailed to them.

With ClerkePass, an online records service, all they have to do is log on to www.clerkepass.com/rockingham and request a record, which can be emailed within a few hours, according to a press release.

“I can actually have a certified document in Afghanistan even the very next day as long as someone has the Internet,” Evans-Haywood said. “It’s pretty darn amazing.”

The circuit court began using ClerkePass about a month ago in response to a change in state law that makes electronic records as legal as certified paper documents.

It costs $8 to get a certified document using ClerkePass, in addition to the usual cost of 50 cents per page and $2 for certification that the court charges.

Though there is a fee for the service, Evans-Haywood said it eliminates costs associated with requesting records over the phone or in person, such as the cost of fuel to make the trip or the cost of mailing documents across the country.

There’s no charge to Rockingham County to use ClerkePass because the company collects its fees from people who use the service.

The program has been popular since it started on Aug. 20, Evans-Haywood said.

“The morning we got this we had requests [for electronic records],” he said. “It’s been pretty impressive just even the folks around Harrisonburg and Rockingham County who are ordering records online.”