THE BEST SORT OF DEED - Jefferson County Clerk

The
Spring Edition 2014
`
THE CONSTANT
PUBLIC OFFICE
Spring is finally here. I thought it
would never warm up.
Frank Friday, Esq. Director,
Govt. & Community Relations
A former President liked to say
that the closest thing on earth to
immortality was a government
program. In Kentucky, we certainly
have a touch of that with some
of our public offices that may no
longer be necessary.
Last year I moved and expanded
several of our motor vehicle
branches. Currently, I am in
the process of renovating and
expanding our Dixie Branch to
better serve the dealers and
residents in that area of town.
Recent legislation to end the
office of constable was introduced
in the General Assembly, similar
to previous efforts. However, the
path to doing so is not so easy.
Like many Kentucky officials
with little to no public duties, the
constable is a creature of the
state constitution and will require
a full amendment process vote of
the people to abolish.
We have been very busy here at
the Clerk’s Office as the divisions
have begun working on their many
initiatives set before them for this
year. The Motor Vehicle, Logistics
and Finance staffs continue to work
with the Kentucky Department of
Transportation as progress moves
forward on the new KAVIS
(Kentucky Automated Vehicle
Information System) statewide
system. A great deal of work and
training of employees has already
gone into preparing Jefferson
County for the changes that will
take place.
The interest in eliminating the
constable comes from the fact
that this position carries with it the
full authority of arrest and firearms
as any other peace officer, yet
there is no training or supervision
for such persons. And a county
government can still be legally
liable for the constable’s actions.
Before the adoption of Kentucky’s
modern judicial system, minor
(continued on page 2)
THE BEST SORT
OF DEED
Recent legislation has been
considered to allow an easier
process for Louisville’s Landbank
to obtain control of abandoned
or seriously neglected property
through the tax delinquency
process. While this was not a
The V.I.P.
A message from the Jefferson County Clerk
The Election Center staff is
preparing for the May 20th Primary
Election. Jefferson County just went
through a redistricting process and
shifting has taken place within the
Council Districts. You may want to
check your voting location. Just log
onto the Clerk’s website and on the
top right of the opening page you
bill originating from the JCCO, in
the past we have suggested various
ideas to the legislature along these
lines and hope something in the
future is successful.
Nothing helps build a community
l
Bobbie Holsclaw
can confirm your voting location and
preview a sample ballot. If you would
like to work as an Election Officer,
you can apply online or call the
Election Center at 502.574.6100.
Spring is a busy time of year and
just in case life gets a little hectic,
save yourself a trip to one of our
branch service centers and consider
the convenience of renewing your
motor vehicle registration by phone
or online. If you have any questions
or suggestions as to how the Clerk’s
Office can better serve you, please
contact us. As always, we look
forward to serving you!
more than getting the private lots of
a neighborhood into the hands of
people who will properly maintain
them. So having an efficient
foreclosure process is important
to get property back in productive
hands.
A quarterly publication of the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office
(continued on page 2)
page
1
The V.I.P. is a quarterly publication
of the Jefferson County Clerk’s
Office for the benefit of our
employees and customers.
Mission Statement:
We are committed to providing
service that reflects Value,
Integrity, and Performance.
We believe every citizen deserves
V.I.P. service.
www.JeffersonCountyClerk.org
We thank our contributing writers for
this issue:
Angela Davis Clark, Director
Human Resources Division
Dave Summerfield, Director
Information Technology
Frank Friday, Esq. Director
Government & Community Relations
Jordan Kelch, Administrator
Public Relations
If you have ideas for future articles of
interest, please contact the
Managing Editor at 574-0045 or email
[email protected]
BOBBIE HOLSCLAW
Publisher
NORE GHIBAUDY
Editor-in-Chief
Photograph of Ms. Holsclaw courtesy
of Ewa Wojkoska and Today’s Woman Magazine.
Director’s photos by Ewa Wojkoska.
JOANNA DAVIS
Graphic Design
THE CONSTANT PUBLIC OFFICE
matters went to the old Quarterly
Courts, consisting of the County Judge
and Magistrates. Constables served
the same function as sheriff’s deputies
have always done for Circuit Court. But
without a court of record, there is now
very little for constables to do. In some
counties, a few minor duties have been
set aside for constables who wish to
undertake them, but the wiser choice
might be to abolish the office.
So too, there is an elected office for a
county surveyor, who has no practical
duties but no move has been made to
end this office. In many counties, such
as Jefferson, the magistrates have no
duties either but small counties, where
they do, oppose any change. The office
of county commissioner is not required
by the state constitution, yet is now
obsolete in Jefferson County. For now,
though, the legislature has not gotten
around to ending this office, so it will
keep appearing on the ballot.
There is also some interest in ending
the State Treasurer’s office. This, too,
would require amendment of the state
constitution and may be too high a
hurdle. The Treasurer has about five
THE BEST SORT
OF DEED
(continued from page 1)
What, then, does one get when property
is bought at foreclosure? In Kentucky,
when property goes through a court
proceeding to foreclose by lien holders,
the property is sold by the Master
Commissioner, a special office of the
circuit court.
At these regularly held sales, the
successful bidder is required to pay at
least 10 percent of the amount bid at
the day of the sale, with the remainder
due when the Master Commissioner
delivers the deed. If the plaintiff is the
successful bidder, he will not have to
deposit 10 percent. Instead, he will
only be required to pay the Master
Commissioner’s fees and sale costs
which are usually around $1,000 to
$2,000, but not to exceed $5,000. KRS
426.705 requires the purchaser to post
a bond for the sale price with a surety
approved by the Master Commissioner,
bearing interest from the date of sale at
the judgment rate, which bond to have
the force of a judgment.
The Master Commissioner then grants
a deed to the winning bidder, which
extinguishes the interests of all previous
www.JeffersonCountyClerk.org
(continued from page 1)
employees and still handles a few
duties, in addition to having his name
appear on government checks.
The most famous Kentucky Treasurer
of all time was Richard “Honest
Dick” Tate. He had been embezzling
money for years and later absconded
with a quarter-million dollars of the
state’s money in 1888, never to be
seen again. Rumor has it he fled
abroad and may have died later in
China. Fortunately, nothing quite so
brazen has happened in Frankfort
since.
Obsolete offices are certainly not
peculiar to Kentucky. In Britain, there
have been many famous offices that
became obsolete but somehow stuck
around. For example, the Lord Privy
Seal has not actually had a seal to
affix for centuries, but the job is a kind
of sinecure for the Prime Minister’s
close advisors. Likewise, the Lord
High Constable has no duties other
than to help organize coronations,
royal marriages and funerals much
like Kentucky magistrates, who still
solemnize marriages for a fee...
horse-drawn carriages being extra.
parties to the property, including
tax authorities, provided they were
properly named and noticed in the
foreclosure lawsuit. Typically, these
are just the persons of record in the
county clerk’s books. The money paid
is distributed first to taxes, then to
secure creditors, then any unsecured
creditors who are involved, then the
rest, if any to the old owner.
The old owner can still “redeem” the
property from the new owner in a
year if it does not fetch at least 2/3 of
the property appraisal amount. This
right is also assignable.
Once one has a commissioner’s deed
- it is often called the best title to
have, because it has been “cleaned”
so to speak - all other parties have
their interest extinguished along with
their heirs. After that, a title examiner
typically won’t bother researching a
commissioner’s deed past the first
owner. However, a reasonable search
ought to include some examination
of the foreclosure action, especially a
recent one, to assure
there are no other
possible claimants
slipping through, such
as a redemption, on
this “best of deeds”.
Frank Friday, Esq. Director,
Govt. & Community Relations
page 2
SIZING UP THE 2014 PRIMARY ELECTION
By Jordan Kelch
Public Relations
After a full calendar year passed
without an election, Jefferson
County once again finds itself
gearing up for a spring Primary. On
Tuesday, May 20th, Kentucky voters
will go to the polls for the first of two
occasions in 2014. Now that we are
well into the year, several elements
pertaining to the upcoming election
have greatly solidified while others
remain vague. At this time, in the
month of March, filing deadlines
have passed, therefore the field of
candidates is firm. However, when
we look towards relevant details and
statistics, such as voter turnout and
the volume of Absentee In-House
voters, only hypotheticals can be
offered.
When looking ahead to the
upcoming elections, and when
discussing impact, especially in
the Metro area, one can’t help but
focus on the race for Louisville
Metro Mayor. Incumbent Greg
Fischer is running for his second
term, and while he faces no
opposition during the primary, he
will have a competitor during the
General Election in November.
Bob Devore of the Republican
Party has filed to join the race. He
and Mayor Fischer will appear on
the November ballot, but Jackie
Green, who wanted to run as an
Independent candidate, will not.
Mr. Green, who is a registered
Democrat, is now running as
a write-in candidate. Because
none of the Mayoral candidates
face primary opposition, voters
will have to wait until November
to cast their ballot for one of these
gentlemen.
Outside of Metro Mayor, other races
to follow include those of Metro
Council. The 9th District seat, which
will be vacated by Councilwoman
Tina Ward-Pugh, has a great deal
of interested candidates. In fact,
thirteen Democrats have filed to run.
9th District residents such as Chris
Hartley, Bette Niemi, Mollie Younger
Noe and Mike Brooks each have
their sights set on a primary victory.
The V.I.P.
l
Whoever moves onto the General
Election will face opposition from the
one Republican challenger, Laura A.
Rice.
The race for the 1st District seat of
Metro Council is also an interesting
turn of events. Attica Scott, the
incumbent, is facing competition from
another member of the Democratic
Party, Jessica Green. Ms. Green is
the daughter of longtime 1st District
Councilwoman Judy Green, Ms.
Scott’s predecessor.
With the variety of races and the
quality assortment of candidates,
Jefferson County hopes to see
a boost in voter turnout. Primary
attendance has dipped greatly since
2008, the year
that 39.4% of
registered voters
in the county
made it out to
the polls. 2010
saw 27.7%,
a marginal
decrease from
two years prior.
2011, though,
showcased a
massive drop,
with only 11.3%
of registered
voters making it
their precincts
on Primary Day.
There was a
small recovery
the year after,
with 15.7%
submitting
ballots in May of 2012. As of this
printing, Jefferson County features
535,790 total registered voters.
Of them: 311,282 are Democrats;
176,063 are Republicans; and 48,445
characterize themselves as ‘other’.
290,404 of the registered voters in
our county are female, while 245,384
are male.
Of course, in an attempt to make
voting as efficient, accessible and
user-friendly as possible, Jefferson
County offers Absentee In-House
Voting for those residents who
will be absent from the county on
Election Day. From April 14th through
May 19th, absent registered voters
will have the opportunity to cast
their ballots while visiting Election
Headquarters at 810 Barret Avenue.
The Election Center will also begin
mailing requested absentee ballots
beginning March 31st. To be eligible
for Absentee Voting, registered
voters must be: outside of the county
on Election Day; a student who
temporarily resides outside of the
county on Election Day; A member
of the Armed Forces who will either
be out of the county on Election
Day, or confined to a base within the
county on Election Day; a citizen
who is residing overseas and will be
out of the country on Election Day; a
voter who has surgery scheduled on
or around Election Day; a Precinct
Election Officer serving at a polling
location; member or staff of the
County Board of Elections; a woman
in her last trimester of pregnancy;
and an unassisted visually impaired
voter.
If you are a Jefferson County resident
who has yet to register to vote, the
deadline is 29 days before any given
election. For the May 20th Primary,
the registration deadline is April 21st.
When visiting the polling location
on Election Day, be sure to bring a
proper form of identification with you.
Those include: a driver’s license, a
credit card, a social security card,
or any other identification bearing
both the picture and signature of
the voter. If you are unsure of where
to vote, visit our website at www.
jeffersoncountyclerk.org and navigate
to ‘Voter Info’. That tab will offer
various selections; click on ‘Where
Do I Vote’ and enter your street
number and name. Your polling
location and precinct will appear right
before your eyes. Remember, too,
that our website can confirm if you
are registered, and will also allow you
to peek at a copy of the ballot you
will be filling out. It’s all there for you.
We look forward to seeing you at the
polls!
A quarterly publication of the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office
page
3
TECHNOLOGY TAKES THE
CLERK’S OFFICE INTO THE FUTURE
Dave Summerfield
Director, information Technology
Fifteen years ago, when I started
out at the Clerk’s Office, one of the
new technological buzzwords that
was fast becoming a part of the
vocabulary of local government
leaders was “e-government” - the
“e” being short for “electronic”. Back
then, the focus of local government
agencies was taking existing
services, computerizing them and
making them accessible to citizens
via the Internet. Increased customer
service, efficiency and productivity
were the primary goals.
Back in 1999, wanting to establish
her reputation as a technological
leader in local government, the new
County Clerk, Bobbie Holsclaw,
was eager to bring the benefits of
e-government to her constituents.
Soon after Bobbie took her first
oath of office, we launched largescale capital projects to create
the technology infrastructure
needed to provide a foundation
for the JCCO’s e-government
initiatives. We took the land records
document database and put it on the
Internet. We pioneered online and
telephone motor vehicle renewals
for our customers. No longer do the
citizens of Jefferson County have to
experience a long wait in a crowded
branch office to renew their motor
vehicle registrations, or to get copies
of deeds, mortgages or liens.
Because of our technological
advances over the last few years,
JCCO customers now have access
to a host of online services that
are accessible anywhere there is a
computer or smart device connected
to the Internet. Tech-savvy citizens
can get online and find out where
to vote, view scanned motor vehicle
lien filings, research and pay
delinquent property taxes, request
absentee ballots, see our branch
offices via webcams, check voter
registration information, have live
Internet chats with knowledgeable
clerks, view updated election results,
provide immediate customer service
feedback and have access to a vast
library of online government forms.
A lot has changed in a fairly short
amount of time.
Given the success we’ve had, it
might be tempting to take it easy and
be satisfied with what we’ve already
accomplished. We could sit back
and brag about what we’ve done
and pat ourselves on the back. But,
technology keeps evolving at a rapid
pace. What was groundbreaking
a few years ago isn’t necessarily
relevant today. What does the
technological future hold for an
agency like the Jefferson County
Clerk’s Office?
GOV 2.0
The future of local government
technology is a changing landscape.
As new technologies become
available our customers demand that
we adopt them to deliver services.
Things aren’t like they used to be
just a few short years ago. Just like
no one carries around a brick-sized
cell phone with a rubber antenna
anymore, nobody talks about
“e-government” these days...not if
they want to be taken seriously. The
new industry buzzword is “GOV 2.0”.
Simply put, GOV 2.0 is all about
using technology to get governmentheld information into the hands of
private citizens for their own use.
Citizens can use the available
information to make individual
decisions, solve community problems
or consume government services.
One of the very best examples of
a GOV 2.0 initiative in action is our
very own Online Land Records
System (OLRS). Using the Internet,
our online customers can go to
a Web page that will allow them
to search through a database of
electronically scanned images of
deeds, mortgages, liens, plats and
other land records documents that
contains well over 17 million pages
of information. The service is
available free of charge and places
no restrictions on the private use of
document images. When the JCCO
introduced the Online Land Records
System, we had no idea how vital a
role it would play in supporting the
local real estate economy. Today,
title searches on Jefferson County
properties can take place from
anywhere the Internet reaches.
www.JeffersonCountyClerk.org
But, GOV 2.0 isn’t just the act of us
putting stuff out on the Internet. It’s
also an ongoing strategy of actively
letting go of information that we may
have once closely guarded. It’s
letting our customers come into our
office electronically and allowing
them to use the same information
that we’re using, only without our
direct supervision. GOV 2.0 means
more and better services for our
customers, but it also means a
greater level of accountability and
transparency for us as government
employees. Once we let our
customers in the electronic door the
burden is on us to make sure that
our technology is reliable, our data is
accurate and our services are always
available.
So, how is an agency like the JCCO
supposed to do that? How do we
prepare ourselves for the future
demands of our customers? What
new technologies can we take
advantage of that will keep us on the
leading edge of GOV 2.0? Well, I’m
glad you asked! Let me give you
a brief description of some of the
new technologies that the JCCO is
working with and how we anticipate
using them.
Handheld Devices
You see them everywhere you go.
Smartphones. Tablets. E-Readers.
Hundreds of different devices from
dozens of different manufacturers
using a variety of operating systems.
Some JCCO employees are
already using their smartphones to
access their work email. A couple
of years ago we piloted a program
where Motor Vehicle branch office
greeters used iPads to access AVIS
information while interacting with
customers in the waiting areas. But,
the biggest motivation pushing us
toward smartphones and tablets is
our customers. With the proliferation
of handheld devices in the wireless
communications marketplace, more
and more of our customers are
using them to communicate, access
information and consume services.
You might point out that the JCCO
already has a number of Web-based
applications that can be accessed
page
4
via smartphones and tablets. While
that’s true, Web pages that were
designed to function on the wide
screen of a PC or laptop don’t
necessarily work well on the small
screen of an iPhone or an Android
device. Constantly scrolling up,
down, left and right, or trying to type
data in on a device with a 3.5-inch
screen can be frustrating experiences
for our smartphone customers. What
we’re experimenting with right now
is a development tool that will allow
existing Web pages to automatically
sense what type of device the viewer
is using, and reformat the page so
that it is optimized to be viewed on
that kind of device.
Another avenue that we’re exploring
is creating downloadable mobile
apps of some of our most used Web
applications. Under consideration
are handheld-friendly versions of the
Online Land Records System and the
“Where Do I Vote?” Web site. There
are several potential vendor partners
who are interested in doing business
with the JCCO, and we are currently
developing specifications for them.
Social Media
Social media is all the rage among
technophiles young and old. Sites
like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
Instagram and Snapchat have
revolutionized the ways in which
people communicate with one
another. Sharing one’s thoughts,
pictures, videos and music has never
been easier. But what does all that
have to do with local government?
Social media gives us an everincreasing variety of tools to use for
sharing public information, and for
keeping our citizens engaged with
issues that affect our services to
them.
As an example, take a look at
the new JCCO Elections Center
Facebook page. Looking for a way
to build an online community for its
more than 2,100 poll workers, the
Elections Center has created a social
media channel where volunteers
and interested citizens can find out
about poll worker training, recruitment
and election preparations. Election
news, pictures and an online
communication forum come together
to keep our poll workers informed and
interested.
Efforts to use social media in
conjunction with the JCCO’s existing
Internet offerings are currently being
discussed. Under consideration is a
re-design of the JCCO Web page that
will employ social media resources to
distribute JCCO-related news, allow
more immediate customer service
feedback, create libraries of pictures
and provide access to informative and
instructional videos.
Cloud Computing
You already know that we I.T. folk
periodically have to make up fancy
new terms to describe what we do.
“Cloud Computing” is one of those
terms. The “Cloud” refers to the
Internet and all of the computers that
are hooked up to it. The Internet
can be used, not only for email and
Web pages, but to distribute access
to software and to compute power
to remote locations. Let me see if I
can give you an example of what I’m
trying to describe:
Let’s say the JCCO needed a new
software application. It used to be
that we would have to go out and
purchase the software and a server to
run it on. We would physically locate
the server in our computer room,
load the software on the server and
hook everything up to our network
so that everyone in the JCCO could
use it. Every year we would have to
set aside money in order to be able
to pay for software licensing fees and
hardware maintenance agreements.
We would have to have a separate
server and software for databases
and data storage.
These days it’s possible to use the
“Cloud” to subscribe to those same
services over the Internet from
someone else. We simply pay a
fee up front and use the Internet to
access the services that we subscribe
to. No more purchasing the software
or servers, no maintenance or
licensing fees and the servers aren’t
even located here. The potential
of cloud computing for letting us
avoid costs related to purchases of
computer hardware, software and
data storage is enormous.
The JCCO started using Cloud
Computing several years ago when
we began subscribing to an Internet
filtering service called MX Logic.
We’ve also been using the Cloud
to store data backups for disaster
recovery since last year. So, you’ve
actually been using the Cloud as a
computing resource for a while, and I
bet you didn’t even know it.
Our latest Cloud Computing project
is the migration of the JCCO to
Microsoft Office 365. Instead of
purchasing a new suite of Microsoft
Office products we are now
subscribing to Office 365. In the
very near future, once the Office
365 migration is complete, we’ll
be able to retire our old Microsoft
Exchange server and rely on
the Cloud for email and office
automation.
Virtualization
Virtualization is a way of using
software to get a few closely
networked computer servers to do
the work that used to require many
servers. Even in a busy computing
environment, the processors
of computer servers are idle a
good deal of the time. Computer
engineers have figured out how
to use that “idle time” to get other
processing done.
Using a product Called VMWare
the JCCO established virtual server
platform in late 2010. Since that
time we’ve been able to take 14
of our older physical servers and
their associated operating costs
and retire them. We’ve even added
a few new applications along the
way. The applications that used to
run on those 14 servers now run
on “virtual” servers on a platform
that consists of only three physical
servers. As a result we have been
able to dramatically increase the
JCCO’s computing power without
the cost of adding additional
physical servers.
Voice Over Internet
Protocol (VOIP)
Voice Over Internet Protocol,
or “VOIP”, is a way to digitize
telephone voice signals and network
them in the same way we do data
communication signals. You may
not think that’s a big deal, but
telephones used to have to use their
own analog (non-digital) networks
and equipment that existed side-byside with computer networks and
equipment. Now you can use the
same network to do both, reducing
costs and making maintenance
easier.
By the time you read this article, the
I.T. Division will be busy working
with AT&T to install the JCCO’s
first VOIP phone system in the
Motor Vehicle Call Center. The
new system will allow Clerks in
the Call Center to more directly
manage customer telephone
traffic, while gathering meaningful
statistical information about why
our customers are calling and how
successful we are in serving their
(continued on page 7)
The V.I.P.
l
A quarterly publication of the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office
page
5
Human Resources
IT’S THE LAW
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITY
Angela Davis Clark,
Director, Human Resources
Opportunity Commission,
applicants and employees
of most private employers,
state and local governments,
educational institutions,
employment agencies and labor
organizations are protected under
Federal law from discrimination.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, as amended, protects
applicants and employees from
discrimination in hiring, promotion,
discharge, pay, fringe benefits,
job training, classification, referral,
and other aspects of employment,
because of someone’s race/color,
sex (including sexual harassment,
pregnancy, and equal pay/
compensation), disability, age,
national origin, religious, and
genetic information.
Race/color discrimination involves
treating someone unfavorably
because s/he is of a certain race or
because of personal characteristics
associated with race (such as hair
texture, skin color, or certain facial
features). Color discrimination
involves treating someone
unfavorably because of skin color
complexion.
At our last All
Employee meeting,
we talked about how
we should always
“treat everyone with
the same respect as
you and your family
members want
to be treated.”
Everyone who
walks through
our doors should
have an equal
opportunity of
receiving the
same level of VIP
customer service.
But, this aspect of
customer service
goes beyond our
external customers
and applicants; it
includes our internal
customers -- our
own employees.
According to the
Equal Employment
Sex discrimination involves
treating someone unfavorably
because of that person’s sex
(gender). Sexual harassment
can include unwelcome sexual
advances, requests for sexual
favors, and other verbal or physical
harassment of a sexual nature.
Pregnancy discrimination involves
treating a woman unfavorable
because of pregnancy, childbirth,
or a medical condition related to
pregnancy or childbirth. Equal pay/
compensation enforced under the
Equal Pay Act requires that men
and women in the same workplace
be given equal pay for equal work.
The jobs need not be identical,
but they must be substantially
equal. Job content (not job titles)
determines whether jobs are
substantially equal.
Disability discrimination occurs
when an employer or other entity
covered by the Americans with
Disabilities Act, as amended, or the
Rehabilitation Act, as amended,
treats a qualified individual with
www.JeffersonCountyClerk.org
a disability unfavorably because s/
he has a history of a disability or is
believed to have a physical or mental
impairment.
Age discrimination enforced under the
Age Discrimination Act (ADEA) only
forbids age discrimination against
people who are age 40 or older.
National Origin discrimination involves
treating people unfavorably because
they are from a particular country or
part of the world, because of ethnicity
or accent, or because they appear to
be of a certain ethnic background.
Religious discrimination involves
treating a person unfavorably because
of his or her religious beliefs. The law
protects not only people of traditional,
organized religions, but also others
who have sincerely held religious,
ethical or moral beliefs.
Genetic Information discrimination
enforced under Title II of GINA makes
it illegal to discriminate against
employees or applicants because of
genetic information.
All claims of discrimination are to be
taken seriously. If an employee feels
that s/he has been discriminated
against because of one or more
of the protected classes listed
previously, then the employee may
directly contact Bill Brazley in Human
Resources. We are always hopeful
that issues can be resolved by
addressing the actual individual (or
that individual’s supervisor) who has
allegedly subjected the employee
to the unfavorable circumstances.
According to our PPM, all employees
are responsible for fully participating in
internal investigations.
I am encouraged that if “we treat
everyone with the same respect as
you or your family members want to
be treated,” then we will decrease or
maybe even eliminate the probability
of issues of discrimination.
Equal Employment Opportunity is The Law,
EEOC 9/02 and OFCCP 8/08 Versions Useable
With 11/09 Supplement, EEOC=P/E-1 (Revised
11/09) Discrimination, U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, http://www1.eeoc.gov//
laws/types, viewed 03/06/2014
page
6
Breast Cancer Awareness
By Jordan Kelch
Public Relations
Services. With active involvement
and wide-spread education, the
Cabinet continues to stress the
importance of regular screening
and early detection.
According to the American
Cancer Society, over 230,000
new cases of invasive breast
cancer will be diagnosed this
year; coupled with that statistic
is the estimation that upwards
of 40,000 women will die of the
disease. If you are a female
citizen of the United States,
you have a 1 in 8 chance of
being diagnosed throughout
your lifetime. Risk has increased
considerably over the last 40 years,
with possible factors including shifts
in reproductive patterns, obesity
and longer life expectancy. While
breast cancer can occur in younger
women, the ACS states that seventynine percent of new cases and 88%
of breast cancer deaths occur in
women aged 50 years or older. While
the disease continues to prey on
women around the world, incredible
improvements are being made in
reference to recognizing, detecting
and fighting breast cancer.
Here in the Commonwealth, the
Kentucky Breast Cancer Research and
Education Trust Fund actively offers
grants to various organizations and
agencies across the state. Not only
do these grant awards assist with the
overall promotion of breast cancer
awareness, they help fund routine
screenings and breast cancer services.
The Research and Education Trust
Fund is administered by the Kentucky
Division of Women’s Health, under
the Cabinet for Health and Family
One of the best ways to assist
in raising awareness of the
disease while also honoring those
who have been diagnosed is to
purchase the Kentucky Breast
Cancer Awareness license plate,
available at all county clerk offices.
All owners of non-commercial motor
vehicles registered for use on KY
highways are eligible to buy the plate.
The initial cost is $44.00 with an annual
renewal fee of $31.00. $10.00 of the
initial and renewal of registration fee is
a voluntary donation to the Research
and Education Fund. This plate is
available for personalization with an
additional, annual $25.00 application
fee but is limited to a maximum of 5
characters.
TECHNOLOGY TAKES CLERK’S OFFICE INTO THE FUTURE
(continued from page 5)
needs. In addition, when we need
to make changes to the system, like
moving a telephone line from one desk
to another, we will be able to do that
ourselves.
Geographical Information
Systems (GIS)
One of the most useful and
transformative technologies
that has matured in the last few
years has been Geographical
Information Systems, or “GIS”.
The ability to digitize maps and
navigate with them on a computer
screen has been nothing short of
revolutionary. The technology has
been a boon to companies and
government agencies that work with
infrastructure and land boundaries.
Think about how public utilities like
LG&E, the Louisville Water Company
and MSD use maps to tell where
things like where electrical lines
are water mains and sewer lines
are located. But, also think of how
agencies like the PVA, Metro Police
and the JCCO might use maps to tell
us where people live, where crimes
are occurring and what property
boundaries look like.
Nowhere in the JCCO has GIS
technology been more important than
the Election Center. Being able to
plot precinct boundaries, map street
names and track legislative districts
are tasks that are vital to the Election
Center mission. A really great
example of how we have brought the
power of GIS to our customers is the
“Where Do I Vote?” Web site http://
ags2.lojic.org/WhereDoIVote/.
The “Where Do I Vote?” Web
site is a collaboration between
the Louisville Jefferson County
Information Consortium (LOJIC)
and the JCCO Elections Center. It
couples a powerful local geographic
mapping system with local elections
information. Once at the site, voters
can type in their home addresses
to access information about their
voting precincts, polling locations,
local candidates and elected leaders.
Around election time, voters can even
obtain sample ballots for the elections
in which they’ll be casting votes.
Mapping data gives voters a visual
picture of where polling locations are
in relation to their home addresses.
They can even get driving directions.
Optical Character
Recognition (OCR)
Optical Character Recognition, or
OCR, technology gives a computer the
ability to “read” the printed or written
characters on an electronically scanned
document. Teaching a computer to read
is a complicated and expensive task,
but the last few years have brought
many advancements in the accuracy
of OCR technology, and substantial
reductions in its cost. You’ve probably
seen commercials on TV where bank
customers are able to take a picture of
a check with a smartphone and deposit
the check directly in the bank. That’s an
application of OCR technology.
The JCCO has recently been able to do
a couple of different things with OCR. If
you work with customer checks you’ve
probably seen the check scanners that
we now use to deposit checks into the
bank. As checks get fed through, the
scanners use OCR to “read” the bank
routing, customer account numbers
and amounts off of the check. The
money represented by the check is
electronically deposited into JCCO
accounts in real time, maximizing the
amount of interest we can earn on our
(continued on page 8)
The V.I.P.
l
A quarterly publication of the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office
page
7
Milestones
TECHNOLOGY TAKES CLERK’S
OFFICE INTO THE FUTURE
Congratulations!
PROMOTIONS
(continued from page 7)
January 16, 2014 to March 15, 2014
Sam Gish
Tina Hash
Jordan Kelch
Amela Ricks
Jordan Shields
Vanessa Viers
Laurie Warren
CSR to PC Software Spec I
CSR to CSA
Mgmt. Asst. to Administrator
CSR to CSA
CSR to CSA
Administrator to Manager
CSR to CSA
IT Department
Highview Branch
Public Relations
Highview Branch
Highview Branch
Finance Dept.
Highview Branch
ANNIVERSARIES
January 16, 2014 to March 15, 2014
Mary Dawson Carrie Harrison
Griffin Torrance
Ricky Wilson
Bobbie Holsclaw
Galina Ostrovskaya
Gina Wheatley
Sandy Byerly Election Center
Recording Department
IT Department
IT Department
Administration
Deed Room Department
Legal Records
Professional License
15 Years
15 Years
15 Years
15 Years
20 Years
20 Years
20 Years
25 Years
NEW HIRES
January 16, 2014 to March 15, 2014
Donna Antique
Doreen Couch
Thomas Milliner
Kelley Ross
Erica Dawson
Dixie Branch
Election Center
Lien Department
Dixie Branch
Jeffersontown Branch
02/03/2014
02/03/2014
02/18/2014
02/18/2014
03/03/2014
deposits.
In the Legal Records Division we use
OCR to “read” the scanned copies
of land records documents before
they’re put on the Internet. Customized
redaction software then looks for
embedded social security numbers in the
document images. Once found, social
security numbers are redacted from
documents, automatically blocking that
information from being displayed to the
public. The FBI says that identity theft
is the fastest growing crime in America
today. The JCCO is doing its part in the
fight against identity theft by protecting
the social security numbers of Jefferson
County citizens using Optical Character
Recognition.
A possible future JCCO application of
OCR includes the automated indexing
of land records documents, which is
currently a manual process. OCR will
also be incorporated into the State’s
new motor vehicle registration and titling
system, KAVIS, when it makes its debut
in 2015. KAVIS will have the ability to
scan and store documents presented by
vehicle owners as part of the registration
or titling process.
So, the technological future looks
pretty bright here at the Clerk’s Office.
Hopefully, I’ve been able to give you an
idea about where we’re going and what
we’ll use to get there. We’ll be using
some state-of-the-art tools to enhance
our operations and give our customers
the best experiences possible. As new
technologies become available we’ll look
for ways that we can use them to cut
costs, boost productivity and enhance
customer service. We’ll make it a point to
put more information into the hands of the
citizens of Jefferson County and let them
decide what they want to do with it. We
will use technology to work collaboratively
with other local agencies and companies
to make interacting with government
easier and faster. The future is going to
be a pretty exciting place.
www.JeffersonCountyClerk.org
page
8