Register of Deeds upgrading technology

Cheryl Duncan, Crossville Chronicle, Tenn.
·2 min read

Oct. 6—Cumberland County Register of Deeds Trey Kerley is one step closer to making good on a campaign promise to improve technology in his office.

"Right now, I have people lined up at the door that have been there 15-20 minutes waiting to get help because we can only receipt at one station," he told the County Commission's budget committee Tuesday. "Everybody in there should be able to receipt."

Kerley is requesting $38,000 for data processing equipment. The amount is in the budget, county finance director Nathan Brock said.

Part of the upgrades include replacing what Kerley said is "a server that's 10 years old, computers that go back to '09."

He added, "We want to offer fraud protection to the people of Cumberland County. That's something a lot of counties around us are offering. We get a lot of phone calls about that every day — 'Has somebody stolen my property?'"

The committee approved Kerley's request.

Committee members also approved the Sheriff's Office's request of adding $94,980 from a state grant to its budget to offset costs of taking individuals to mental health facilities in 2022-'23.

"Those runs have increased over the years," Brock said. He later added, "These people do not necessarily commit criminal acts," he added. "It's just to get them to a medical facility."

The Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs awarded the one-year grant, which covers in-service and CPR training, adding defibrillators to transport vehicles and salaries for primarily part-time employees, who Brock said do those duties now.

"This is a non-match grant," he said. "The thing of it is, you're already transporting these patients anyhow."

He added that the grant may not cover the total costs, "but it'll offset the local taxpayer burden on the transport costs."

Other items approved by the budget committee include:

—$7,000 to the Emergency Management Agency, the result of a contribution from the city of Crossville.

—$243,000 from a Community Development Block Grant for increasing access to and availability of child care in the county. Two licensed facilities are to be the recipients of the grant dollars.

—A Board of Education budget amendment transferring $102,183.06 from line items for teachers to line items for educational assistants.