Opinion ID: 2301560
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Electronic Records in the Registries of Deeds

Text: [¶ 3] As state and local governments have become more sophisticated in their electronic recordkeeping, the ease of effectuating electronic transfers has led to requests for the bulk delivery of complete compilations of various types of government records. Bulk requests were rarely received in a purely paper-based system, given the labor and costs required to reproduce large quantities of paper documents. [¶ 4] In response to the technological advances that have enabled a more efficient flow of public information, and the resulting increased interest in obtaining that electronic information at low cost for private commercial use, some states have preemptively legislated the conditions for allowing bulk access. For example, in New Mexico, a copy of a database will be provided if the recipient agrees, among other things, not to use the database for any . . . commercial purpose unless the purpose and use is approved in writing by the state agency that created the database. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 14-3-15.1(C)(2) (LexisNexis 2012). In Michigan, the Legislature acted more broadly to confer on registers of deeds the discretion to satisfy information requests using a medium selected by the register of deeds. Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 565.551(2)(a) (Lexis-Nexis 2011). About fifteen to forty percent of counties in the United States require users of bulk online records to enter into a contract agreeing not to use the records for commercial purposes. U.S. Gov't Accountability Office, GAO-08-1009R, Social Security Numbers in Bulk and Online Records 22 (2008). [¶ 5] In Maine, it appears that the Legislature was made aware of the policy considerations related to registry records, see 33 M.R.S. § 651, only after MacImage made its requests and alerted county and state government to the potential for disputes over the availability of the electronic documents in bulk and the fees that could be charged for bulk transfers. [4] Accordingly, when MacImage made its requests for digital copies of every document contained in each county's registry, the statutes addressing fees for copies of registry records were still written in terms that were designed for a paper-based county registry system. That registry system, which calls for the recording and indexing of land-transfer records in each county, has existed in Maine since 1821. See P.L. 1821, ch. 36 (effective Feb. 20, 1821); P.L. 1821, ch. 98 (effective Mar. 19, 1821). Pursuant to long-existing statutes, Maine's counties provide the public service of recording private and public land transactions and making the information publicly available for a reasonable fee. See P.L. 1821, ch. 98, § 3; see also 33 M.R.S. § 751(14) (2009); 33 M.R.S. § 751(14-B), (14-C) (2011). [¶ 6] The purpose of Maine's registries of deeds, as in other states, is to provide a common base of information regarding the ownership and configuration of real estate in Maine. See 33 M.R.S. § 651 (2011) (requiring the registers of deeds to record and index instruments conveying real property interests). All of the documents recorded within the counties' registries are, by statute, always available to the public for reasonable fees, and the parties do not dispute the public availability of the registry records in this case. Rather, as the following procedural history demonstrates, the issue before us relates to the reasonableness of the fees charged by the county registries for providing bulk transfers of electronic copies.