UTICA - Some of Oneida County's public records could be going online again.

Online records were a major issue in last year's election when current Oneida County Clerk Sandra DePerno beat the incumbent, Rick Allen.

The debate over those public records still continues...one year later.

“No!” said DePerno. “We are not ready to go. I can't give you a timeline of when we're going to be ready to go online. No!” 

It's a heated debate...all about whether or not to put some public records online. And if they do go on the web the question is raised: how much information is too much?

“We are trying to study ways to make sure that when the records are put up online, that they will be safe,” DePerno said. “Everyone's identity will be secure.”   

The information that's in question now is a database of cover sheets, basic information such as  like names and amounts paid for properties

“On the cover sheet there will not be any personal identifying information that will lead to any type of identity theft,” Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito said.

As the recommendation stands now, anyone who wants to access cover sheets online would be able to do so, with a simple user name and password.

But to get any specific information you'd still have to come to the County Clerk's office and search for the hard-copy.

“I'm worried about the safety of the constituents of Oneida County,” DePerno said. “I don't want them to be victims of identity theft…when it's set to go up, it will go up.”

And while most of the task force seems reluctant to re-post records to the web, at least one member of the committee says he thinks it's necessary just to keep up-to-date.

“I don't want to be the last county in New York to have access to technical information online,” said Lawrence Golden of the Oneida County Bar Association. “The forward thinking and the forward acting counties in this state and throughout the country are the ones who are making information readily accessible.”

Even though those records may not be accessible online yet, they are still accessible, as they've always been, at the County Clerk's office.

 

 ***WKTV WEB EXCLUSIVE: VIEW ONEIDA COUNTY CLERK, SANDRA DEPERNO'S ISSUED COMMENTS REGARDING THE ISSUE OF RECORDS ONLINE***