Agenda Item   

AGENDA STAFF REPORT

 

                                                                                                                        ASR Control  26-000084

 

MEETING DATE:

03/24/26

legal entity taking action:

Board of Supervisors

board of supervisors district(s):

All Districts

SUBMITTING Agency/Department:

Clerk-Recorder   (Approved)

Department contact person(s):

Robert Dorrough 714-834-5119 

 

 

Luz Suazo 714-834-5127

 

 

Subject:  Agreement with the State of California Department of Child Support Services

 

     ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

          Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Consent Calendar

 

 

3 Votes Board Majority

 

 

 

    Budgeted: N/A

Current Year Cost:  See Financial Impact Section

Annual Cost: N/A

 

 

 

    Staffing Impact:

No

# of Positions:           

Sole Source:   N/A

    Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

   Funding Source:    Fund 12D: 100%

County Audit in last 3 years: No

   Levine Act Review Completed: N/A

 

    Prior Board Action:         6/6/2023 #18, 3/24/2020 #1, 8/14/2018 #19, 11/10/2015 #18

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

 

Approve the Memorandum of Understanding Agreement between Owner Counties and the State of California Department of Child Support Services for its utilization of the County’s co-owned Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment electronic recording system, effective April 20, 2026, through April 19, 2031, with a one-year option to extend the term and authorize the Clerk-Recorder or designee to execute it.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

Approval of the Memorandum of Understanding Agreement with the State of California Department of Child Support Services will allow this state agency’s continued use of the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment electronic recording system, and its related Government to Government portal, co-owned by the counties of Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego.

 

 


 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

On August 19, 2008, the Board of Supervisors (Board) authorized the Orange County Clerk-Recorder (Clerk-Recorder) to enter into a Multi-County Agreement (Agreement) with the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego for the shared ownership and operation of an Electronic Recording Delivery System (ERDS), branded as the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment (SECURE).  On August 14, 2018, the Board approved a new five-year agreement amongst the SECURE Owners, which extended the Agreement term through August 18, 2023.   On June 6, 2023, the Board approved a new five-year agreement amongst the SECURE Owners, which extended the Agreement term through June 30, 2028. The contract is being presented for Board approval less than 30 days before the effective date due to prolonged negotiations with the California Department of Child Support Services.

 

The four counties under the Agreement are collectively referred to as owner counties (Owners), with Orange County (County) designated as Lead County in the Agreement. The Clerk-Recorder is responsible for maintaining the electronic recording delivery system and network, as well as administering SECURE’s associated contracts and initializing and training partner counties to accept documents for electronic recording via SECURE (Partner Counties).  In addition, the Clerk-Recorder also initializes and trains authorized users, designated as Agents and Authorized Submitters, who submit electronic documents to the SECURE Owners and Partner Counties for recordation.

 

On March 24, 2020, the Clerk-Recorder revised the existing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) to comply with the updates in law in early 2020.  These four MOUs relate to each of the types of parties allowed to record electronically: Partner, Agent, Authorized Submitter and Government Participant.

 

Government agencies have been recording documents electronically since November 10, 2015, when the Board approved the use of the Government to Government (G2G) portal derivative of SECURE, allowing them the ability to submit documents electronically for recordation through this portal. The Clerk-Recorder has experienced great success with this program, adding four state agencies that include the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Department of Child Support Services (DCSS), the Employment Development Department and the State of California Franchise Tax Board. Additionally, approximately 191 cities and local government agencies also submit documents electronically through SECURE.

 

The DCSS has successfully recorded documents through SECURE for the past ten years and desires to continue to do so. As the DCSS’s current MOU is set to expire on April 20, 2026, the Clerk-Recorder negotiated a new DCSS MOU, utilizing the approved Government Participant MOU as the basis for the new Agreement, modified appropriately to better apply to state government agencies. The Clerk-Recorder respectfully requests the Board’s approval of this new DCSS MOU. While this contract does not include the County’s standard insurance and indemnification provisions, it does not pose any usual risks to the County.  Please see Attachment B, Risk Assessment or Modification of Insurance Terms.

 

 


 

 

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

 

Appropriations and revenues for this Agreement are included in Fund 12D Clerk-Recorder Modernization-SECURE FY 2025-26 Budget for Clerk-Recorder, which is funded entirely by Clerk-Recorder recording fees, and will be included in the budgeting process for future years.

 

In order to encourage participation in electronic recording, Government agencies are not billed any fees for utilizing the electronic recording system, and they are provided up to two authentication tokens.  If they require more authentication tokens, they will be billed for the actual cost of the tokens, which is currently $150. The annual maintenance cost is reimbursed through the Owner and Partner Annual Fees, which are funded through each county by their recording fees.

 

 

 

STAFFING IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

ATTACHMENT(S):

 

Attachment A - State of California Department of Child Support Services Memorandum of Understanding
Attachment B - Risk Assessment or Modification of Insurance Terms