The first day Dallas County Recorder ReNae Arnold stepped into the office, trouble awaited.The computers were down and had been for a few days.”That was a very frustrating experience,” Arnold said. “I saw my employees go through things that they shouldn’t have had to go through, you know, and the public was angry.”County recorders are elected officials. The offices’ main duties are tracking and keeping the documents for major events, birth and death certificates, deeds for property and issuing marriage licenses.That first day motivated Arnold to look at ways to protect that information.”I could either do nothing and just hope that it never happened again. Or I could try to prevent it from happening, and I could look for different software that had disaster recovery in place already and try to protect the taxpayers’ money, because they’re paying for our software,” Arnold said.There are two main protections offered for county residents.Notaries can now sign up through the recorder’s website to have their individual stamps tracked.They get a notification each time a document with their seal comes through the recorder’s office.The other relates to property scams.”It’s a very important tool because it protects you from knowing if there’s a document recorded in our office for your property,” Arnold said.Owners can sign up and also get notices when their address comes up.”It’s not a huge issue in Iowa, but in my office, we prefer to be proactive versus reactive,” Arnold said. Not all recorders are notaries, who can be official witnesses for legal or official documents.You can find notaries on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.» Subscribe to KCCI’s YouTube page» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play

DES MOINES, Iowa —

The first day Dallas County Recorder ReNae Arnold stepped into the office, trouble awaited.

The computers were down and had been for a few days.

“That was a very frustrating experience,” Arnold said. “I saw my employees go through things that they shouldn’t have had to go through, you know, and the public was angry.”

County recorders are elected officials. The offices’ main duties are tracking and keeping the documents for major events, birth and death certificates, deeds for property and issuing marriage licenses.

That first day motivated Arnold to look at ways to protect that information.

“I could either do nothing and just hope that it never happened again. Or I could try to prevent it from happening, and I could look for different software that had disaster recovery in place already and try to protect the taxpayers’ money, because they’re paying for our software,” Arnold said.

There are two main protections offered for county residents.

Notaries can now sign up through the recorder’s website to have their individual stamps tracked.

They get a notification each time a document with their seal comes through the recorder’s office.

The other relates to property scams.

“It’s a very important tool because it protects you from knowing if there’s a document recorded in our office for your property,” Arnold said.

Owners can sign up and also get notices when their address comes up.

“It’s not a huge issue in Iowa, but in my office, we prefer to be proactive versus reactive,” Arnold said.

Not all recorders are notaries, who can be official witnesses for legal or official documents.

You can find notaries on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.

» Subscribe to KCCI’s YouTube page

» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play