Starting immediately, records in the Washington County prothonotary and register of wills offices will be available to the public online.
The announcement was made Wednesday during a presentation by Prothonotary Phyllis Ranko Matheny and Steve Tkach, director of court technology and records management.
"We're blazing the trail," said Matheny about the county's newest electronic venture. "Because it's so unique, we don't really have anything to compare it to."
According to Matheny, Washington County is one of the few smaller counties in the state to offer online access. The reason is mostly attributable to the cost, she said.
Work to provide the information online began in 2004.
"We would constantly get phone calls from people asking us to look things up for them," she said.
And, over the past few months, it has been tested by several local users, including attorneys and title searchers.
"We finally decided to take it to the public," said Tkach.
Initial access will be limited, but eventually, full documents and court filings will be only a touch away.
While the prothonotary's office has not yet begun imaging, the register of wills office has been imaging documents since 2002 in anticipation of the online venture.
"I said it was going to be a state-of-the-art affair, and it's just that," said Kathy Flynn Reda, register of wills.
Under state statute, however, protection-from-abuse cases will not be accessible via the Internet. Although they are public documents, the statute prohibits their availability online.
To gain access, users must fill out an application form that is available on the Web site or at the courthouse offices.
Access will be free through the end of the year, but eventually a fee will be charged.
However, Tkach said it's not yet certain whether the fee will be charged on a monthly basis or by minutes used. "We're still considering the options," he said.
Implementation of the service was made possible through court automation fees imposed by each office. Fees will be necessary to pay for maintenance and expansion.
"We'll make adjustments as needed," Tkach said.
Matheny, who is running for another term in office in November, rebuked any claims that the timing for the online access debut has political ties.
"It's not something that has just come up. We've worked a long time with a lot of people on this," she said.
Meanwhile, Reda said she's glad to see the system up and running before she leaves office at the end of the year. Earlier this year, Reda announced she was retiring after seven terms in office.
Records are available through the county Web site at www.co.washington.pa.us.