Update June 19th, 2023:
In response to the original article, Lorraine Henry, Director of Communications/Public Information Officer Department of Natural Resources, Office of the Commissioner offered the below statement;
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been working towards reducing brick-and-mortar Recorder’s Office locations for more than nine years as Alaskans have increasingly moved their efforts online, through the mail, or to a local business that offers these services. DNR previously closed eight offices across the state and shifted those in-person services to local private sector eRecording agencies – generating revenue, establishing new clients, and providing additional job opportunities locally. All Alaska communities are still able to record documents without a physical office location through mail and eRecording.
The Kenai Office was originally slated for closure in 2018, and has averaged less than two in-person customers per day since then. Only 11% of the recorded documents in Kenai happen “over the counter,” making it a priority to update our approach to better serve Alaskans. DNR has been balancing two long-term team members in the Kenai office, supporting the valued community they serve, and our fiscal responsibility to the State of Alaska budget. The timing to close the office in 2023 is being expedited with a full-time employee leaving their role, resulting in an inefficient option to recruit/hire/train a temporary replacement, and only one part-time employee remaining. DNR will be coordinating with local and state elected officials in the region on measures mitigate the impact of this office closure. The Kenai Recorder’s Office will be operating at reduced hours for in-person service after June 30, 2023 and is still planned to close permanently later this year.
This office closure is in line with AS 40.17.010(c) “When rapid recording and retrieval and secure storage of documents can be provided for all recording districts with a single place of recording in the state, the recorder shall record the documents at a single place in the state designated by the department.” Under the applicable statutes, the Department has the authority to designate public offices for recording and, therefore, has the power to close those offices.
Original Post:
The Kenai Recording Office within the Department of Natural Resources, will be closing its brick-and-mortar location at 110 Trading Bay Road, Suite 105, Kenai, AK 99611 on June 30, 2023.
In a memorandum addressed to Senator Jesse Bjorkman, Representative Justin Ruffridge and Representative Ben Carpenter sent on June 1st, 2023, the Department of Natural Resources states they collaborated with LAW and learned that the DNR Commissioner has the authority to close this office outside of the legislative budget process via AS 40.17.010.
It further states, The Kenai Office records for only one district and physically interacts with less than 600 customers a year; most documents are eRecorded or mailed into the office. The Kenai district constituents will no longer have a physical office, but recording services will still be readily available to them by phone, email, recording by mail or same day eRecording with local business partners. Partnering with local businesses to provide eRecording services has been incredibly successful with other office closures and we anticipate that the success will expand with the closure of the Kenai Office. We are confident that there will be minimal disruption or impact to Kenai constituents.
Sen. Bjorkman in a email to KRSM, stated;
The Department of Natural Resources chose to close this office outside of the usual budget process which just concluded. Chrissy Thurman said via phone Thursday that OMB told DNR that, “including the closure in the DNR budget request would have distracted from the budget process.”
“I am not satisfied with DNR’s statements regarding the closure of this office and the discontinuation of services to people on the Kenai Peninsula. My office is continuing to investigate this matter.”
The Statewide Recorder’s Office has successfully decreased its physical footprint and reduced overhead expenses in eight other locations across the state since FY14. The office closures were executed successfully due to technological advancements and streamlined processes that have aligned with the mission goals under AS 40.17.010(c). “When rapid recording and retrieval and secure storage of documents can be provided for all recording districts with a single place of recording in the state, the recorder shall record the documents at a single place in the state designated by the department.”