Starke County Recorder Mandy Thomason asked the Starke County Commissioners last week if title searchers could be admitted into her office to conduct work.
Thomason said the real estate market has been deemed essential so her staff has been taking on the work of title searchers as they’re not currently allowed to be inside the Starke County Annex Building. She asked if they could be admitted into the office by appointment or one day a week so they can get the information they need.
She said about three or four hours a day is consumed by assisting title searchers with gathering the information when the searchers typically work on their own when they arrive in the office.
Auditor Rachel Oesterreich said if the commissioners permit the appointments, searchers must wear face masks as they are in other counties besides Starke County where there are higher numbers of positive COVID-19 cases.
The request was made on Monday during the commissioners’ Zoom meeting. When they reconvened on Wednesday to talk more about the food program and this request, they made the decision to keep the offices closed to searchers for the time being. They will be allowed back in the office when the county buildings open up to the public, depending on the governor’s Executive Orders.
