Putting the voter first Its day-to-day function is retrieving records for customers and quality-checking all recorded documents. This keeps the small Records crew pretty busy, as can be seen from the numbers in the table below.

In addition to these activities, the Records Division staffs the multi-year Records Imaging Initiative and

completed a project with Denver Public Library’s Western History and Genealogy Department to scan land sale indexes

dating back 140 years into high-resolution electronic files. These are now viewable at DPL.

2011 Annual Report

Debra JohnsonClerk and RecorderCity and County of Denver

Mission:“To provide customer friendly processes that are efficient and transparent, records that are easy to access and elections that are accurate, secure and convenient for voters.”

Registered Voters

Petition Signatures Processed

Election-Related Letters

Mailed to Voters

Number of Ballots

Mailed

Number of Ballots Cast & Counted

Voter Registrations

Processed– All Categories

Election Statistics

2011 • 3 elections

2010 • 3 elections

2009 • 1 election

2011 Achievements:

• Conducted a groundbreaking pilot project allowing military and overseas voters the option to vote online in the May and June municipal elections. The pilot provided these voters with a secure, encrypted environment. Response from participants was overwhelmingly positive.

• Redrew all of Denver’s precinct boundaries following Congressional reapportionment and state redistricting. This labor-intensive project was expedited to accommodate earlier 2012 caucuses. Denver’s prior 429 precincts were reduced to 344 precincts.

• Defeated a preliminary injunction that would have prevented Denver from mailing ballots to voters who didn’t vote in the November 2010 General Election.

• Transitioned campaign finance administration from the City Clerk Division to the Elections Division. Having municipal candidates and issue campaigns file all election-related documents at the Elections Division maximizes convenience for candidates.

• Increased recruitment of student election judges to engage more young people in the democratic process.

Records Division

2011

2010

2009

440,

983

428,

156

418,

396

891,1

5438

9,42

934

6,95

5

194,

648

335,

497

322,

933

82,5

49

76,5

67

98,4

80

1,945

348,

125

158,

238

355,

127

278,

961

42,9

07

Elections Division

Vision: “To be regarded as the most customer-centric and trusted Clerk and Recorder team in the state of Colorado.”

1,000,000

900,000

800,000

700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

Customers Served

Document Pages Mailed in Response

to Customer Requests

Recorded Documents Mailed Back to

Recording Customers

61,3

47

70,2

35

93,0

75

11,2

12

17,5

02

20,15

2

20,19

9

13,6

59

18,8

62

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0

In a major achievement, the agency put all of Denver’s foreclosure data online on the Clerk and Recorder website. The public can now search or browse through all of Denver’s foreclosure cases using a variety of criteria including name, address, neighborhood, date range, lender and auction date. This project is part of an overall agency goal of making Clerk and Recorder documents much more accessible to the public. Public education was also a high priority, as the Division continued its popular seminars on redemptions and bidding at the property auctions.

Public Trustee Division

Deed of Trust Releases

Foreclosure Statistics

www.DenverClerkandRecorder.org • www.DenverVotes.org

ForeclosureFilings

ForeclosuresCured by

Homeowner

6,500

2,000

200

20

03,

434

5,05

36,

141

186

188

136

ForeclosuresWithdrawnby Lender

2,17

82,

983

2,02

5

ForeclosuresRedeemed

by Lienholders

182747

PropertiesAuctioned

2,21

72,

880

3,10

8

34,06431,08027,572

0 25,000 30,000 35,000

2011

2010

2009

Clerk and Recorder Budget

Funds Expended

Projected Revenues

Actual Revenues

$ 5,91

8,43

8$ 8,

318,

900

$ 8,10

4,60

0

2011

2010

2009

$ 4,93

7,08

1$ 6,

527,

641

$ 6,49

0,53

7

$ 6,16

7,20

0$ 5,

897,

100

$ 5,58

3,30

0

$ 6,14

1,657

$ 5,61

6,07

3$ 5,

220,

027

*2011 numbers are estimated

New Clerk, New Vision

I am pleased to present to you our 2011 Annual Report.

I was sworn in as Denver’s elected Clerk and Recorder in July 2011. Since then, I

have undertaken a variety of projects that will continue to modernize our processes. Increasing

numbers of our customers have come to expect electronic document handling. Our primary goal is

excellent customer service. Therefore, it is vital for our agency to move its records and document handling processes to an electronic platform. That includes making it easy for our customers to access information and file documents with us electronically. It also includes continuing to work hard so that voting is a convenient, accessible, secure and accurate process for our citizens.

The Office of the Clerk and Recorder is currently engaged in a strategic planning process that will take the agency into the future with clear goals. We plan to be active in legislative matters and advocate for legislation maximizing voting access and clarifying the foreclosure process for those who find themselves involved in it.

I am also strongly committed to transparency and public outreach, so that citizens know what we do, how we do it, and can access our services easily.

City Clerk DivisionLove was in the air in 2011. The City Clerk Division issued a record 5,415 marriage licenses. This generated more than $190,000 in revenue. The City Clerk’s annual Valentine’s Day event has become increasingly popular. Couples who come in to apply for marriage

licenses on Valentine’s Day are greeted in a cupid-decorated waiting area and provided with

refreshments, photographs and small gift bags. We heart brides and grooms.

Recording DivisionRecording documents electronically is continuing its steady gain in popularity, as can be seen in the numbers in the table below. In 2011, the Recording Division began to lay the foundation for securing a more modern recording system. Once implemented, the new system will greatly increase the ease and convenience of e-recording for the public.

The Recording Division continued to meet its goal of processing all recorded documents within one business day of receipt.

Clerk and Recorder Initiatives

Strategic PlanningOrganizing for the future

The Office of the Clerk and Recorder has updated its mission and is formulating long-range

goals in order to increase efficiency and deliver top-notch customer service.

A cohesive set of long range goals will allow the agency to effectively prioritize the use of its budget and personnel. The

agency has a number of major projects planned or underway to transition service delivery to electronic platforms.

Records Imaging InitiativeModernizing service delivery

This multi-year, phased project is well underway toward its eventual goal of preserving in electronic format more than 17 million recorded documents held by the Clerk and Recorder and making them conveniently available to the public online.

These documents have existed on deteriorating microfilm, microfiche and paper. In addition, many documents scanned in the early years of electronic format have needed replacement with higher-quality scans. Originally envisioned as a five-year project, budget reductions over the last several years necessitate the lengthening of this project. In 2011, total documents digitized passed the seven million mark.

Inventory of Historic Records Conserving historic records

Many historic paper records of various types, collected and preserved at the Office of the Clerk and Recorder, have not seen the light of day for decades. Many of these records were stored unindexed in mixed boxes for many years. Started in 2009, this project has been uncovering treasures dating back a hundred years and more. To date, more than 273,000 documents (2.4 million pages) have been catalogued and placed in a more appropriate storage environment to preserve them for the future.

2011 Highlights

Marriage Licenses Issued

Marriage Certifcates Recorded

Domestic Partnership

Registrations

City ContractsCompleted

Ordinances and

ResolutionsProcessed

5,41

55,

038

4,88

7

2,20

8

4,86

8

4,70

1

2,06

0

5,27

4

2,12

8

854

941

942

205

2011

2010

2009

Paper Documents Recorded

E-Recordings Processed

Documents Recorded by Other Divisions

Total Documents Recorded

61,3

3267

,252

81,9

18

159,

170

72,3

90

80,7

11

173,

786

82,2

00

154,

182

10,6

60

10,0

6320

,685

2011

2010

2009

Budget and RevenueBudgets and expenditures for the Office of theClerk and Recorder fluctuate from year to year primarily due to the number and types of elections that are held.

$9,000,000$8,000,000$7,000,000$6,000,000$5,000,000$4,000,000$3,000,000$2,000,000$1,000,000

0

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

200,000180,000160,000140,000120,000100,00080,00060,00040,00020,000

0

199

149

Communications OfficeDuring the year, the Communications Office:

• Created and launched a newly-redesigned Clerk and Recorder website. This project consolidated five separate Clerk and Recorder websites into one easy-to-use portal, www.DenverClerkandRecorder.org. The new website lets users easily find essential Clerk and Recorder services.

• Served as the primary point of contact for candidates in the 2011 municipal elections, issue committees and the Clerk and Recorder’s advisory groups.

• Staffed a major project to reorganize Clerk and Recorder rules and to write new ones. This project is expected to be completed by mid-2012.

• Supported all Clerk and Recorder divisions with public education and outreach efforts.

Clerk and Recorder