BRB's Public Records Blog

Idaho’s Hefty Increase for Party Verification

In the fall of 2018, Idaho completed the transition of all forty-four counties from the legacy system, iStars (Data Repository), to their new online portal, iCourts. Due to this transition, users needing to verify the identity on a record were faced with a challenge. The legacy system iStars allowed users to search records by name and DOB statewide or by individual county, and by case number. On the new portal, iCourts, users lost the functionality to search by DOB. Users can search by name, including a phonetic search, and case type. Users may also include the booking number, FBI number, SO number, or filter by case type or status and file date range. The results only display a year of birth. Depending on need and depth of due diligence this may be enough, but not for a large industry of users.

Recognizing the gap it caused in the verification process, in 2019, the Supreme court released a Party Verification site. On this site, registered users were then able to search by party to verify the date of birth on file. In case you aren’t familiar with this site, it can be found at https://idcourts.service-now.com/public. Below are some of the parameters for using the site:

• Data verification is available on cases from 1995 to present. Note that some information for older cases may be available on this site.
• The site provides the capability to verify an unlimited number of parties in one search. You must provide the following for each party:
• Subject's name, may include up to 6 variations of the first name
• Date of birth
• Specific case number(s), may include up to 16 case numbers per party
• Will only verify the information provided
• Please note that there is a strong disclaimer that includes the following, "THE SERVICE IS DISTRIBUTED ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE."

At the time of release, the cost was $6.00 per party. Fast forward nearly three years later, the fee for using this service has more than doubled. Effective January 1, 2022, the price increased to $16.00 per party. An alternative to paying the fee would be to have a court clerk verify identity. Although, I don’t know if any courts are providing since this service has become available.

Arizona Courts Raising Filing, Search and Certification Fees 8-9-2017

Effective August 9, 2017, numerous Superior and Justice Court fees will increase in Arizona. The Clerk's record search fee at the Superior Court will increase from $27.00 to $28.00. The same increase also takes place for a record certification - from $27.00 to $28.00. Similar fee increases will also occur at the Justice Court level with the search and certification fees both increasing from $25.00 to $26.00.

Overall, there are over 115 fees that will increase at the Superior Court level. A good resource with printable lists of both the old and new fee schedules is available from Maricopa County at www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/fees.asp.

Coconino County has a display of the new Justice Court fees at www.coconino.az.gov/DocumentCenter/View/17485.

The states' current base fees are authorized by A.R.S. § 12-284, the Arizona Code of Judicial Administration Section 3-404, Supreme Court Administrative Order 2017-44 plus additional fees determined by Statute, Supreme Court Administrative Order or Board of Supervisor's Resolution. Note a county Board of Supervisors may add local fees per A.R.S. 11-251.08.

Louisiana Parish Recorders Modifying Fees 8-1-2017

Senate Bill 236, which became Act 173 was signed by the Governor on June 12, 2017. This Act makes some extensive changes for filing and recording documents, including certification of records charged by the Clerks of the District Court as ex officio recorders. Changes are effective as of August 1, 2017.

Certification Fee

The certification fee for a recorded document is increasing from $5.00 to $10.00. Note that although Act 173 is very specific that the changes apply only to recorded documents, a number of District Court Clerks have indicated to us that they are also raising the court record certification fee from $5.00 to $10.00. If you would like a list of these courts, please email [email protected].

Filing and Recording Fees

The fee for filing and recording document changes from:

• $25.00 per book for the first page and $10.00 for each subsequent page per book up to ten pages or $8.00 per page if exceeding 10 pages

To the following:

• For one to five page documents, one hundred dollars.
• For six to twenty-five page documents, two hundred dollars.
• For twenty-six to fifty page documents, three hundred dollars.
• For documents in excess of fifty pages, three hundred dollars for first 26 fifty pages and five dollars for each subsequent page.

This includes up to 10 names indexed, a certified copy, and the LCRAA Portal Fee. For indexing of all documents filed for record for each name after the tenth name that is required to be indexed, five dollars per name.