MOUNT VERNON — Townships now have an option that helps streamline records management when tracking cemetery deeds.
“Per state law, when you buy a plot, each township has to generate a deed,” explained Knox County Recorder Tanner Salyers. “All townships sell plots; not all townships issue a deed.”
Townships track plot sales in a variety of ways. Some use index cards, some use maps, and some provide a receipt. Some print deeds and keep them in a binder. Some townships buy a management system.
“The problem is, sometimes they’re scrambling looking for a deed,” Salyers said. “Small townships that do not have the staff are burdened by maintaining these records.”
Salyers said his office frequently receives calls from family members asking what to do because they cannot find a deed for a loved one. He also noted paper tracking systems are subject to flooding or fire. Mildew, fading ink, misplacement, or errant records retention are other potential risks.
“The whole idea is you produce these records, and it’s kind of a pain to manage it,” he said. “Well, you don’t have to.”
A change in state law can help townships manage cemetery deeds and protect against potential loss.
The recently passed state budget bill includes a clause that states township officials may — not shall — register the deeds with the county recorder’s office.
“They can continue to maintain the records, or they can produce a deed and bring it in here and record it,” Salyers said. “It is a way of eliminating layers of government, and it is cohesion between county and township.
“And it lifts a burden from the township and provides a service to the people buying these plots,” he added.
The personal touch
Salyers noted that when a family member loses a loved one, they want to find cemetery documents quickly. They do not want to talk to several different people. Having the deed on file in the recorder’s office ensures a quick result.
“Township officials will still have the personal touch working with the family and selling the cemetery plot,” Salyers said. “Where I come in is record-keeping and access.”
He acknowledged that filing a deed with the recorder’s office might seem unnecessary now but said, “Today’s generation will be gone, and the next generation won’t remember.”
“If the township feels it’s too radically different from what they have been doing, that’s fine. But it’s an option,” Salyers said. “If you streamline this process, it’s going to be easier.”
Nothing stopped townships from filing deeds with the recorder’s office before the bill passed in June.
“The purpose for the law is it suffices the retention schedule,” Salyers explained. “Cemetery deeds are a permanent record. Townships are required to keep them somehow, or they can record them and it absolves them of responsibility.”
Salyers also noted that filing the deed with the recorder’s office makes it easier to transfer the plot if the individual chooses not to be buried there.
Filing fee
The state sets the filing fee to record the deed. Currently, it is $34.
The township can either pay the fee or add it to the price of the cemetery plot. The township would then forward the filing fee to the recorder’s office monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually.
If the township registers multiple plots simultaneously, it records them on one deed. Therefore, there would be only one filing fee.
The filing fee is what concerns Milford Township trustees and Fiscal Officer Crystal McElhaney.
When a plot is sold, McElhaney prints out a deed, has the trustees sign it, and sends the original to the buyer. She keeps a copy in a three-ring binder.
With the help of county officials, she made a cemetery map, located the pins, and placed names on it. She maintains two copies of a spreadsheet with the information and updates it as necessary. She retains one copy and keeps the other at the township house.
Miller Township residents pay $150 for each plot; non-residents pay $1,000. Most interments are residents.
“Offering this [service] is wonderful, but the state assesses a $34 fee. The trustees do not want to charge that,” McElhaney said. “That would come at a bad time [for the family].”
She noted that the township does not have a cemetery levy, and covering the $34 cost is not feasible.
“We can’t incur that fee because $150 is not much money,” she said.
Getting out the word
Salyers worked with State Rep. Darrell Kick to change the law and enable townships to register deeds with the recorder’s office. Kick represents the 98th District, which includes the eastern half of Knox County.
Salyers also discussed it with the Ohio Township Association and many of the state’s county recorders.
“We feel like there is an overlapping instance of duties in this area, and we can lift a burden from townships, particularly smaller townships that don’t have the staff or general tech infrastructure to keep and maintain permanent records and make them as accessible as they’d like,” he said. “Rep. Kick and I pursued this change to make that an option for townships.”
Salyers said his office has the staff, training, and software to maintain the records. Additionally, the recorder’s office has cybersecurity protection.
“If you think about it, it makes sense to record it. It is a piece of real estate,” he said.
Online deeds make it easier for out-of-town people looking for a location in a cemetery. It also makes it easier for genealogy enthusiasts and groups such as Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Salyers said townships can back-scan deeds if they want, but it is unnecessary. For those who want to, money is available through grants and the Ohio Recorders Association.
Salyers is meeting with township officials to spread the word about the option to file deeds with the recorder’s office. Although the law becomes effective on Oct. 3, he advises townships to wait until Jan. 1, 2024, to implement the change.
