Scranton , PA – Lackawanna County Clerk of Judicial Records Mary Rinaldi and Register of Wills Linda Munley, along with Lackawanna County Commissioners Michael J. Washo, Corey D. O’Brien and Bruce A. Smallacombe, today announced the availability of searchable on-line data bases of Register of Wills and Clerk of Judicial Records documents, a project that has been eight years in the making.
The new function, free and available at http://www.lpa-homes.org/iclook/LPA_Applications/LPA_Applications.htm, provides digital images of will and probate records from 1878 to the present, marriage applications from 1885 to the present, and Orphan’s Court Division records from 1938 to the present. In addition, the Clerk of Judicial Records’ dockets for both Civil and Family Court Divisions, with the exception of juvenile records, will be available from 1995 to the present. In-house scanned images of documents filed in the two divisions from 2003 to the present – again with the exception of juvenile records – will also be available.
Records for the Register of Wills and Orphans’ Court division were scanned in house by Lackawanna County employees; marriage license re-indexing was done by Globe Digital Business Service, Clarks Summit; and additional scanning was performed by INFOCON Corp., Ebensburg. The Clerk of Judicial Records and Register of Wills also had images scanned by Diversified Information Technologies, Scranton.
Officials estimate that upwards of seven million documents will now be available from the Register of Wills office alone, a boon to genealogy researchers and others who will be able to conduct research from the comfort of their own homes. In the past, individuals have traveled long distances, including thousands of miles from other states, in order to access the records for research.
The Lackawanna County Records Improvement Committee has funded the bulk of the project through a state-mandated automation fee. INFOCON was contracted to provide the on-line system at a monthly cost of $3,225. Users must download the free program on to their computers in order to access the system. A link for the system will be available on the Register of Wills and Clerk of Judicial Records department pages on the county web site.
“This is a MILESTONE in the history of Lackawanna County,” Linda Munley said, noting the achievement will give users access to a vast number of images filed in Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans’ Court from 1878 to the present and the Marriage License Bureau from 1885 to the present.
“I would like to thank the Commissioners and the Records Improvement Committee who have worked hard to establish a ‘free of charge’ public access on the World Wide Web,” Linda Munley said. “I must congratulate my staff for the dedication and hard work over the past 8 years in achieving this accomplishment and the Information Technology Department of Lackawanna County for working with us through all the technological difficulties we encountered with this endeavor. “
She added: “This project allows Lackawanna County to give our world access to the history of their families as far back as the 19 th century and it will help establish the roots of the people from our community.”
“I am proud and excited for the taxpayers of Lackawanna County who use my office and now will be able to search and access records in my office on the internet,” Mrs. Rinaldi said. “This will require a sign on and a download of records that may be viewed on their computer. This should make record searches by the public more convenient and free of charge for the service. This project has been in the works for some time, and now it is a reality. Thank you to everyone involved for their patience and perseverance.”
“This is a game changer,” Commissioner O’Brien said. “It’s a giant leap forward in county government.”
Commissioner Smallacombe agreed: “Now anyone who has relatives in Lackawanna County will have access to this information. It’s a great tool.”
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