The Allen Parish Clerk of Court’s Office continues to move forward in utilizing technology to bring records into the future. Two grants over the last few years have been utilized by Clerk Stacey Hurst in digitalizing records, storing them and making them accessible to the public while protecting the rights of those persons mentioned in the records.
“I am proud to announce the recent funding awarded by the Allen Parish Capital Improvement Board to the Allen Parish Clerk of Court’s office,” said Louisiana State Representative Dewith Carrier, District 32. “The clerk’s office was awarded $30,000 in 2021 to make necessary upgrades to the outdated computer software system. This funding was used to purchase the hardware (server), software, software licensing and installation, and setup of the new system by the vendor, which included migration of data from the old system and configuration of a ‘cloud’ based back-up/disaster recovery system.”
Hurst said that grant was able to add 10 years of records to the clerk’s online system (www.eclerkla.com/Home). She said her office had received a grant from LCRAA (Louisiana Land and Marriage Records Search) to add 10 years of conveyance records to the state’s online system.
“Once we did that and moved all of our programs to a cloud-based area, we realized we needed a bigger server,” Hurst said. “The $30,000 enabled us to purchase a bigger server – one that allowed for the new data and software to be stored and still leaves us room for future growth to add more records.
The second grant, which was given recently, will be used to do more upgrades in the office.
Carrier said, “The clerk’s office has recently been awarded $43,000 to install a system called the Civil Image Redaction Solution. This funding also will be used for the completion of the civil and probate records system for the Allen Parish Clerks Office.”
A redaction is a software program that removes text, images, audio and other content containing private, sensitive or confidential information from records stored in the clerk’s office before it is visible to the public. The tools help to reliably mask or remove sensitive information from a document, website, video footage or another information source before sharing with other people not permitted to see all entire document.
Carrier explained upon completion of this project, the Allen Parish Clerk of Court’s office will have records from March 2005 to July 2022 (17 years) of the civil and probate images redacted and imported into its software and service system. This will in turn be offered to the public via online services through Clerk Connect.
Hurst added the second grant allows her office to move the remainder of civil and probate records online. It also allowed her to utilize the redaction program to protect sensitive information in those records.
Hurst is dedicated to improving the filing system and fully accommodate the legal system by ensuring the availability of public records and maintaining proper security software to protect all records and legal documents, according to Carrier. He said, “Special thanks goes to the Allen Parish Capital Improvement Board and Senator Heather Cloud for the support to our court system and parish!”
Hurst said she appreciated Carrier’s assistance and his help along with Senator Cloud’s in securing these grants. She said her office would not be able to move forward with a project this large without this funding.
“Dewith is a pleasure to work with,” Hurst said. “He’s accessible, and he listens and tries to understand what we need and why we need it. He doesn’t realize how much this helped us, and we are so appreciative of his help.”
Hurst and Carrier are excited the parish will benefit from these monies, which were utilized in a positive way that will benefit residents of the parish.
