On Thursday, Rockingham’s land records will be a click away

By Denice Thibodeau

Published: October 4, 2008

Millions of land records will be just a click away when the Rockingham County Register of Deeds Office unveils its new e-Vault on Thursday.

According to Rebecca Cipriani, register of deeds, it has been a 10-year project to get the county’s land records online.

“From 1787 forward, every land record for Rockingham County has been digitized,“ Cipriani said.

She said she undertook the project shortly after taking office in January of 1998.

“Two months later, on March 20, 1998, a tornado struck,“ Cipriani said. “It was a wake-up call to

me about my responsibility for the records of our citizens.“

Cipriani said she was shocked to learn the only backup for the paper records at the courthouse were microfilm copies held by the state - but they only dated back to the 1970s.

“If a disaster hit this office, it would be devastating,“ Cipriani said. “These are economic and historical records. You can’t buy or sell a home without them, and the county would have no tax base

without them.“

She said the personal worth of the records to residents is priceless, and she decided that her legacy would be to keep the records safe and preserved.

The project moved slowly initially, because there was no budget to create the digitized files. In 2001, the state allowed registers to keep 10 percent of the fees for certain records to create a technology and preservation fund, called an Automation Enhancement Preservation Fund. It provides registers with a way to save money for technology upgrades and preservation initiatives without dipping into the regular budget.

Last year, the office contracted with Aptitude

Solutions to provide the recording services.

Now the office immediately scans all paperwork into the system, and, once the e-Vault launches, the information will be available on the Internet.

The company spent about 30 days in the office scanning old land records.

“Some of the early records are so fragile - they were written on parchment paper with quill pens. I wasn’t willing to take the chance of letting them out of the office,“ Cipriani said, adding that once the e-Vault launches people can access the files any time they want to, without coming to the courthouse.

“They can sit at home in (their) pajamas on a Saturday night, and find and print our records,“ Cipriani said.

For the past year, Aptitude Solutions has been organizing the scans and getting them ready for the new Web site, she said.

The launch of the project is 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Board of Commissioners’ Room on the second floor of the Rockingham County Governmental Center.

Bert Jones, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall will be on hand to offer remarks about the project, and then a presentation by Cipriani and Aptitude Solutions will show attendees how the new site will work.

Cipriani said the launch of the e-Vault is open to the public, but asks that interested people call 342-8820, or e-mail her at rcipriani@ co.rockingham.nc.us to let her know they will be attending.

• Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.